ROYAL STRAYS

On paper and pixels, Royal Strays are a three-headed rock ensemble. But through the speakers of your chosen devices, the trio are a time machine. They could class up a college town on a 50-cent draught night or rule over a goth club before you realized both your wallet and a pint of your plasma are missing. But that's not even half their story: Multi-instrumentalist Don Binns conjures everything from 21st century fistpumpers to Weimar cabaret decadence to tangos played in the saloons of 1800s America. Drummer Don Short keeps the requisite pulse to drive the atmospheres. Vocalist Ani Kyd Wolf creates timeless personas, from the courtesan who's had Bram Stoker's telephone number pressed into her well-manicured hand to the steamy torch singer appearing at a club across the street where Weegee is documenting a gangland hit. She's also adept at reflecting the modern desperation that's haunting everyone on Earth just as you're reading this.

     In short, Royal Strays present as if they've lived a thousand lives. By the sound of their new music, one of those epochs is most assuredly yours.

                                                                                                             —Jason Pettigrew