Once upon a time, there was a little band from New York who made it really big by playing simple, yet brilliant little rock-n-roll tunes. They looked dirty. All the members of the band needed haircuts and, from the looks of it, showers too. They called themselves The Strokes and they played songs like “Last Night,” “Someday” and “Hard to Explain.” They didn’t look like much, but their music was incredible, and they quickly changed the outlook of the American rock scene.
Fast forward about a decade and two albums later and The Strokes are one of the most beloved bands in America. However, they have remained in the shadows for some time. There have been solo projects and even rumors of disbandment – until now.
The silence is broken, light has shone on the dark, and what has appeared is a new, long-awaited album, “Angles” and a triumphant return to the awaiting arms of adoring fans.
If there was any question about whether The Strokes still had “it” or not, “Under Cover of Darkness” answered it emphatically. Yes. This first single is so spine-tingling good that it’s almost impossible to not wear out your car stereo with multiple playbacks. There are songs that are just so darn catchy that they make you fall in love with them the first time you hear them. That’s what this first single does.
While “Under Cover of Darkness” will make you feel like you just set foot in the DeLorean and traveled back to 2001, when you were listening to The Strokes debut album in your room, the rest of the album attests to the bands personal and musical maturing over the last 10 years. “Macchu Pichu,” for example, is psychedelic and colorful. It sounds a lot like MGMT. Throughout the album, The Strokes prove that the strength of their band comes from lead-singer Julian Casablancas’ vocals and lyrics, but also from the unique, unparalleled combination of Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi’s guitars. I don’t know that any other band has two guitarists who fuse licks and strums so beautifully and harmoniously. If your ears were junkies, Valensi’s solos would be the crack they’d get off on.
“Two Kinds of Happiness” starts off with a sentimental 80s progression that eventually dissolves into a powerful breakdown that sounds like a battle to the death between Fabrizio Moretti’s drums and the aforementioned guitars. “You’re So Right” is frantically paced and sounds like the score to a high-speed chase involving two robots. It is reminiscent of The Strokes’ third-album “First Impressions of Earth.”
Besides their unique collaboration of sounds, the most powerful element of The Strokes is Julian Casablancas’ incredible songwriting ability. In the past, Casablancas has led the band’s songwriting, writing almost every melody, with the rest of the band adding their touch and flavor on it. With “Angles,” however, the band approached the songwriting process as a unit. While Casablancas’ words still shine through, his powerful hooks and catchy melodies are lacking in a lot of the songs. There are only glimpses of it, like in the satisfying chorus of the song “Taken for a Fool.”
Nevertheless, this is still a successful offering, which combines the familiar Strokes sound with the product of their influences. While I wouldn’t say that “Angles” tops any of the band’s previous efforts, it is an adequate addition to their catalog. I do think that “Under Cover of Darkness” is one of the best songs they’ve written. The rest of the album seems to fall just a bit short of the expectations created by such a grandiose first single.
It’s rumored that the band is already working on their fifth album. Hopefully, the wait will be shorter this time. Until then, “Angles” will suffice abundantly.
