Album Review: The Strokes - Angles

Almost 10 years on from its release, Is This It still manages to haunt every new release by The Strokes. The critical acclaim that greeted The Strokes’ debut album has followed them ever since, and the subsequent weight of expectation that met both Room On Fire and First Impressions Of Earth, led to both albums receiving fairly mixed reviews, despite being good albums.

However, four years on from First Impressions, can The Strokes cast away the lingering shadow of Is This It with their fourth album Angles?

The album opener, ‘Machu Picchu’, emphatically dispels any doubts about the five-piece being submerged under the expectation after such a long lay-off, with its surprising reggae hooks. The lead single from Angles, ‘Undercover Of Darkness’, continues to get better with every listen. Its light-hearted, jangly guitars, Albert Hammond Jr. staple guitar solo and irresistibly catchy double chorus, make it an instant Strokes classic.


Not to mention the quality line: “Everybody's been singing the same song for 10 years”. Well, The Strokes certainly aren’t.



The sound of Angles – as highlighted by the album title – varies constantly. ‘Two Kinds Of Happiness’ has a 80s new-wave vibe, with cascading guitars and another belter of a chorus from Julian Casablancas. Yet, this is followed by ‘You’re So Right’, which features hauntingly claustrophobic vocals from Casablancas, and sounds much darker – even evil - in comparison to the opening tracks. ‘Taken For A Fool’ returns to a more typical Strokes sound, with Casablancas singing: “Monday/Tuesday is my weekend”. The Nick Valensi-penned song encompasses everything that made the New Yorker’s such an attractive proposition in the first place, with the scratchy recording and frantic, jaunty guitars, reminiscent of the bands’ seminal debut album. ‘Games’ takes a different direction entirely, with its polished synths and experimental drums highlighting a strong influence from Casablancas’ recent solo album. ‘Call Me Back’ follows on nicely from the spacey sounds of ‘Games’, becoming the compulsory ‘slow one’ on Angles. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but it certainly doesn’t feel out of place, in fact, it’s strangely beautiful.



If the tempo of Angles appears to tail off during the middle, it is quickly picked up again by the effervescent twinned guitars on ‘Gratisfaction’ – and yet another chorus which requires a throaty attempted sing-along. ‘Metabolism’ is one of the weaker tracks on Angles – feeling like a cut from First Impressions - dominated by the signature Casablancas vocals as he belts out: “Trying for the perfect life / End up being in denial”. However, the closing song, ‘Life Is Simple In The Moonlight’, finishes the album in style. The song starts out as slow, dreamy number before the guitars really kick in and the pace accelerates towards the chorus, as Casablancas yells: “Don't try to stop us / get out of the way”. Whilst the messages coming from The Strokes’ camp insinuated that the creative process behind Angles was a hard slog, the finished product suggests otherwise.

Angles sounds like a band that are enjoying their music, confident enough to experiment with their sound, whilst also retaining those signature Strokes riffs. It also feels like more of a combined group effort than previous records. At just over half an hour, the band clearly learnt from the stick that the lengthy First Impressions received, and Angles sounds all the better for it. Whilst The Strokes have been seemingly ignored whilst the music press lavished affection on The Vaccines as the next big guitar rock band, Angles confirms that New Yorker’s are still as relevant and important to guitar music as they were 10 years ago – wiping the floor with their presumed heirs in the process.

4/5