
In the five years since The Strokes released their last album, a lot has changed in the world. The
Democrats won and lost control of Congress; the first biracial (and socialist, and fascist, and communist,
and Kenyan-born and Muslim) president was elected; and the last “Harry Potter” book was released; the
world wept. The last “Twilight” novel was released; preteens wept. Dictatorships fell. Natural disasters
ravaged what seems like half of the world. Print newspapers disappeared and the New York Times, once
again, decided to implement an asinine pay-wall (actually spending money for a commodity such as
journalism is absurd and un-American). One would think, with all of these world-changing events and a
seemingly interminable hiatus, that the Strokes would at least have come up with some truly compelling
music in the last five years. However, that person would be absolutely mistaken.
It isn’t that “Angles,” the latest album by the Strokes, is bad. It just is not particularly memorable by
any means. Lead singer Julian Casablancas went off the sow his wild oats as a solo artist, and the result
was “Phrazes for the Young,” which, honestly, seemed pretty indistinguishable from his recordings with
the band intact. “First Impressions of Earth,” the last Strokes album before the five-year hiatus, may not
have been as acclaimed as the band’s earlier albums, but it still featured outstanding songs such as “Ask
Me Anything” and my personal favorite Strokes song, “Ize of the World.”
Nothing on “Angles” really stands apart from the rest of the album. The pervasive melody of “Games” is
the most instantly striking of the new tracks, but even that song comes nowhere close to being as iconic
as “What Ever Happened” or “Last Nite” (though new single “Under Cover of Darkness” sounds oddly
like the latter). Nearly every track seems heavily influenced by the earlier albums, but there’s nothing
seems particularly fresh. Even the unbridled ambition of the widely derided “First Impressions of Earth”
seems preferable to the sing-by-numbers aura of “Angles.”
While I may kvetch about the five-year hiatus, I only nag because I love. No one should think that I
find this album to be truly disappointing, but nothing truly stands out, and with a gestation period that
gives Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” a run for its money, perhaps I expected more. I must add,
however, that I’ll eat my words if the Strokes schedule a stop in Miami on their rumored upcoming tour.
Throw your fans a bone, guys. While Vampire Weekend may have tried to usurp the Strokes’ role as
the golden boys of neo-garage rock, the Strokes are still the undisputed champions of the genre even if
they aren’t at their best. Hopefully fans won’t have to wait another five years for some groundbreaking
music.
Rating: 3/4 stars
Released: March 18, 2011
Label: RCA, Rough Trade
Producers: Gus Oberg, Joe Chicarelli, The Strokes