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DAILY RECORD: The Strokes
Posted by: Necci – Mar 16, 2011
The Strokes - Angles (RCA)
The Strokes' fourth full-length studio release finds the band in rare form. Forgoing the Julian Casablancas-helmed writing and composition formula that had been the mainstay of the band's illustrious and enigmatic career, the album finds the roles reversed, with the band composing and Casablancas's vocals existing supplementally to the main body of the music. It is an interesting turn that seems to benefit the album most when redefining the listener’s expectations of what the Strokes are. Many of the new tracks--like the opener, “Machu Picchu”--exist in a strange universe between the Strokes we know and a more instrumentally dynamic, almost dubby (there are actually bongos on a Strokes album) new wave act; which feels current, yet is as always reverential to the collective pop culture past.
With the exception of the regrettable lead single “Under Cover of Darkness"--which starts like classic Strokes gone prog-rock in the worst way, and veers horribly into a Kings of Leon-esque chorus--the album finds a steady middle ground between the lo-fi sound of their first two albums and the glossy and polished First Impressions of Earth. The songwriting switch creates a sense of musical exploration and experimentation that had never existed in Casablancas's highly stylized, meticulously cool songwriting. That’s not to say that the change is for the better, necessarily, but it has emerged as the lone way to keep the musically succinct yet fractioned band together and progressing after over a decade.
Ten years after having to remove the track “New York City Cops” from Is This It? following 9/11, the band harks back to the New York City of the past, adding influences from luminaries like Suicide and Talking Heads, as well as the city’s ever-present house and dance music, on tracks like “You’re So Right” and “Games.” This emphasis on progression carries the album through its length. Each track is unexpected and musically distinct from the last, keeping the listener off guard about what to expect next, and who the Strokes have become. It is an off-kilter yet pleasing foray into the unknown that reminds us why the Strokes were, are, and can be a great band who makes great albums. As great as Is this It? No. Never again. Sorry. Still pretty great though.
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Angles will be released next Tuesday, but for now, it can be streamed at The Strokes' website, here.
By Alex Criqui
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