When you hear someone talking about going on a musical journey, I can forgive you if your mind goes to all of those hyperbolized, talent-show backstories and woe-is-me attempts to win public favor through sympathy rather than any requisite ability. But “Cigarettes and Coffee” does take us on a journey, a sonic one at least. And as a famous man once said, “It is better to travel well than to arrive.” This single is definitely the art of travelling well, musically speaking.
From lilting, dream-pop guitar cascades and spaciousness, unfussy beats and resonant vocals, through a bigger indie-rock landscape where the song cloaks itself in ever-impressive riffs and additional sonics, finally to an explosive, anthemic final chapter, the song moves through a series of logical, incremental, and incendiary steps.
With Sullivan Smith at the helm, The Stray Lions have grown from a bedroom project to a revolving door band of musicians, and somehow, even with a song this big, this punchy, they retain a sense of their lo-fi beginnings, something raw and whilfully unpolished enough that it still bristles with sonic edge and lyrical attitude.
This is my first taste of The Stray Lions, but it certainly won’t be my last. And if you like music that is purposefully scuzzed up, lived in, and slightly abrasive yet is as big and clever as indie-rock can get, both in terms of muscle and melody, I know that you will be keeping a close eye on them too.
