The Strokes - Album Review

I was [and this was not entirely my fault] only twelve when The Strokes released their debut album Is This It and so, [and again this is quite understandable] unlike the rest off the world, I was not exactly blown away by the record. I'll be honest in saying that at the time it completely passed me by. I was probably too busy smashing headfirst straight into puberty or something.

In fact by the time I’d even heard 'Last Night' or seen the infamous bum and glove front cover, the band were well into their six year hiatus having released both Room on Fire in 2002 and in 2005 First Impressions of Earth. Critics who claimed that The Stroke's first album was 'the greatest of the decade' [NME] went on to believe that the band fell foul to the rule of diminishing returns. Which is unfair. Just go listen to the start of First Impressions of Earth and then tell me that isn't as good as anything off of Is This It. Because it is. So what of Angles? Well how to put it without being obtuse*?

Lets start at the top. And with a positive. They got the title right. Albert Hammond Jr. puts it best when he says 'It's what the record sounds like. It comes from five different people' and you can really hear it. Take lead single 'Under the Cover of Darkness’ for example as good as it is, and it's pretty damn good, the production of the song sounds very… disconnected with Casablancas' voice just hanging there above the track. Although it probably doesn't help that lead singer Julian Casablancas was absent from most of the group's recording sessions. Albums made in such a fractured and fractious way don't often work out that well, just ask St. Anger era Metallica.

It's a testament to the band's individual talents then that Angles has some really excellent moments that save this record. The almost reggae opening track 'Machu Picchu' is a bold and brave opener to say the least but, you know what, Casablancas' voice sounds better than ever, a progression not only from the last Strokes record but his solo work, and the track has a great way of winning you over and putting a smile on your face. The same goes for [spell-check bothering] ‘Gratisfaction’, which is plain and simple fun. And when all of the band's voices kick in on the chorus it feels like the group effort the whole album should have been.

Is Angles proof of the downward spiral from The Strokes or an outlier separate from the trend? There are some brilliant songs on this album and I really like a lot of it. But in the end the great songs are only as much as the exceptions that go to prove the rule. Does that matter? No, it's The Strokes and they're back. That good enough for me.

*We're not above puns here.

DwR.