The Strokes - Angles, a review

There's something quite ceremonial about this release, being 10 years after the revolutionary 'Is This It'. Yet if the gossip culture amongst some of music's biggest rags were to have a serious weight, they would have us believe that this, their 4th record, has all but killed them. Rumours of feuding, egos, missed deadlines, troublesome mixing and other such problems have spiralled to build an image of fractitious recordings (aided by varying press releases by the band members in a Gallagherian fashion). I personally couldn't give a rat's arse about who's getting on with who, as long as the music's good.

'Machu Picchu' opens the floodgates with a series of new sounds to the Strokes, evidence of experimentation that will surely keep them fresh, if alienate a few fans of the core sound. There's tongue-in-cheeks references to the wait behind the album with "I'm putting your patience to the test", whilst Casablancas' signature unaffected delivery plays strange games with the chirpy, essentially funky, instrumental. The buzz about the record was evident with the amount of frustration and frenzied refreshing about the release of their free single 'Under Cover of Darkness', but upon hearing it all was forgiven. A testimony to their Room on Fire appeal, scorching riffs pulse whilst earnest romantic vocals are cooed without shame - "I want to be a puppet on a string", culminating in one of their greatest choruses to date.


An almost Kate Bush-style introduction welcomes 'Two Kinds of Happiness' with its unusual 80s goth-electronic beats that found their way into the mainstream with the Cars or Spandau Ballet, that eventually subside to riotous guitars and equally poppy atmospherics; Casablancas straining his voice (and at one stage, before the 2nd minute, evoking Bono) until a mighty breakdown around the 2:50 mark. There was a great divide of opinion around the early release of 'You're So Right'; many drawing comparisons to These New Puritans and Radiohead courtesy of a few unconventional guitars and more electronics than a Crystal Castles-endorsed hairdrier. Altogether, it doesn't really work - but the experimentation is not to fault. There's just a niggling feeling that, at 2 and a half minutes, it's too short to really explore fully - but it does grow after those first few sketchy listens.

The most vocally varied finds its way in 'Taken For A Fool', a simple approach punctured with hooks that truly evoke them at their debut's best: surprisingly written by Valensi rather than Casablancas. The electronics resurge on 'Games' with an opener New Order might have coined, and there's something so un-Strokes about it that supports many fans' theories that this could be on Phrazes for the Young, Julian's solo effort. And there's a lucidity about 'Call Me Back' that's equally confusing, albeit with more endearing symptoms (if you can accept the notion of a Strokes nursery rhyme).


There's then a 70s vibe about 'Gratisfaction', tinged with the same kind of jazz rock that Steely Dan and Thin Lizzy pioneered and it's a better again form of diversity. Definitely one of the album's highlights. All of the hipsters will be enraged by 'Metabolism' with its unusual scientific name, in addition to very heavy sonic similarities, to Muse - but to me it's more of where First Impressions of Earth left off. It's by no means one of the better tracks, throwing weight to that "Is This It is still their peak" argument. We finalise with 'Life Is Simple In The Moonlight', a track as drippily cute as its title. It's certainly symbolic of the album - begins and ends fantastically with a few bumps along the way, finally proclaiming "Don't try to stop us, get out of the way".

What's sure is that with that closing line, and affirmations about setting to work on album number 5 soon, it's nice to be excited about them again. Is it as good as their debut? No. Is it as good as Room on Fire? No. Is it better than First Impressions? Yes. Is comparing it to previous material an endlessly self-fulfilling prophecy of disappointment? Yes. So bloody stop it.

Rating: 8/10
Highlights: Life Is Simple in the Moonlight, Under Cover of Darkness, Machu Picchu, Gratisfaction
Avoid: n/a. Unless You're So Right is still confusing you after 10 listens.