New York City band returns with five legs in the sack and five legs running on Angles.
It’s been a squeamish five years for fans eager to hear where the next phase of the Strokes leads. Their last album, 2006’s First Impressions of Earth, didn’t quite make any significant leaps into new territory, even though it did spawn some great overlooked songs. Since that release each band member has stayed busy in music in some form and threw the Strokes to the back of their minds.
But oh, what teases! After jump starting the short second-coming of rock & roll in 2001 with their debut, Is This Is?, they’ve been tip-toeing around their mighty platform releasing only four albums in those ten years. Now they return with Angles. And yes, it’s a pretty good Strokes record. It’s poppy, it’s hip, it’s a feel-good experience.
Their aesthetic of the choppy rock song filled with guts and attitude is still the blueprint, but they do draw outside the lines a bit. It’s just as slick and straight-forward as their other albums, but this one veers into psychedelic territory that is sometimes engaging, but other times can feel like an outtake from a John Hughes movie soundtrack.
“Two Kinds of Happiness” and “Games” pour on wet synth-sounds; probably the inspirational remnants of Casablancas’ debut solo album, Phrazes for the Young, leaking through. Not necessarily a bad thing, but surely the least exciting part of the album. “You’re So Right,” buzzes and hops along like a Bond-style theme song played during an erratic chase scene through a forest. It glides with rolling high-hats, in-charge guitars and Casablancas’ distressed, lost-in-space vocals.
The on-the-run feeling of “Metabolism” constantly climbs in pressure and finally, harshly, spirals out-of-bounds. The real interesting progression the band has made is their riff structuring. On songs like “Under Cover of Darkness,” “Taken For A Fool,” and “Machu Picchu” Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. trade licks with the same interconnectivity Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood had for Some Girls-era Stones.
“Taken For A Fool” demands immediate attention as the album’s best song. The purest of Strokes choruses is hidden between so many sliding, twisting verses and one miraculous bass line from Nikolai Fraiture in the sudden gap of guitars. The lyrics come from Casablancas’ usual carefree attitude in the usual troubled scene. “You’re so gullible, but I don’t mind / that’s not the problem,” he sings deadpan. “I don’t need anyone with me right now / Monday, Tuesday is my weekend.” You can see the hung-over grin.
For all the great songs on Angles, it lacks the continuity that made their first two albums so easy to listen to repeatedly. At times it lags and depending what kind of fan you are, you’ll love that or hate it. They never fall stagnant for long, fortunately, always bouncing back into familiar, head-bobbing, hip-oscillating territory. But, for the band, who shared songwriting duties for the first time, this new album brings a full evolution of their sound, expanding, but not drifting; experimenting, but staying grounded in their genetic code. Mostly, they pull it off, but after five years it’s nothing to hustle and cuss over. The Strokes may be of the saliva that drips from the Rolling Stones’ fat red tongue, but they’ve got a few more classics waiting to be made if they want to even begin to dream of having the longevity that band has.
But oh, what teases! After jump starting the short second-coming of rock & roll in 2001 with their debut, Is This Is?, they’ve been tip-toeing around their mighty platform releasing only four albums in those ten years. Now they return with Angles. And yes, it’s a pretty good Strokes record. It’s poppy, it’s hip, it’s a feel-good experience.
Their aesthetic of the choppy rock song filled with guts and attitude is still the blueprint, but they do draw outside the lines a bit. It’s just as slick and straight-forward as their other albums, but this one veers into psychedelic territory that is sometimes engaging, but other times can feel like an outtake from a John Hughes movie soundtrack.
“Two Kinds of Happiness” and “Games” pour on wet synth-sounds; probably the inspirational remnants of Casablancas’ debut solo album, Phrazes for the Young, leaking through. Not necessarily a bad thing, but surely the least exciting part of the album. “You’re So Right,” buzzes and hops along like a Bond-style theme song played during an erratic chase scene through a forest. It glides with rolling high-hats, in-charge guitars and Casablancas’ distressed, lost-in-space vocals.
The on-the-run feeling of “Metabolism” constantly climbs in pressure and finally, harshly, spirals out-of-bounds. The real interesting progression the band has made is their riff structuring. On songs like “Under Cover of Darkness,” “Taken For A Fool,” and “Machu Picchu” Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. trade licks with the same interconnectivity Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood had for Some Girls-era Stones.
“Taken For A Fool” demands immediate attention as the album’s best song. The purest of Strokes choruses is hidden between so many sliding, twisting verses and one miraculous bass line from Nikolai Fraiture in the sudden gap of guitars. The lyrics come from Casablancas’ usual carefree attitude in the usual troubled scene. “You’re so gullible, but I don’t mind / that’s not the problem,” he sings deadpan. “I don’t need anyone with me right now / Monday, Tuesday is my weekend.” You can see the hung-over grin.
For all the great songs on Angles, it lacks the continuity that made their first two albums so easy to listen to repeatedly. At times it lags and depending what kind of fan you are, you’ll love that or hate it. They never fall stagnant for long, fortunately, always bouncing back into familiar, head-bobbing, hip-oscillating territory. But, for the band, who shared songwriting duties for the first time, this new album brings a full evolution of their sound, expanding, but not drifting; experimenting, but staying grounded in their genetic code. Mostly, they pull it off, but after five years it’s nothing to hustle and cuss over. The Strokes may be of the saliva that drips from the Rolling Stones’ fat red tongue, but they’ve got a few more classics waiting to be made if they want to even begin to dream of having the longevity that band has.
Best Tracks: “Taken For A Fool,” “You’re So Right,” “Under Cover of Darkness,” “Gratisfaction”
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