Grade: 78% (C+)
After seven-and-a-half minutes of the Strokes' first album in six years, you're reminded why this band was dubbed as "the revivalists of rock and roll" in the early 2k's. Then, you are reminded why the Black Keys, their competitors at the time, have made it further than them in fulfilling that declaration. Much like 2005's dud First Impressions of Earth, 2011's Angles starts off strong and then tapers off. Angles, however, still has many more redeemable qualities than it's predecessor.
The one two combo of "Machu Picchu" and "Under the Cover of Darkness" to start off the record is undeniably both catchy and genius. Seconds into the opener's glitchy guitar work you are hooked and UCoD may as well be notched as a top five Strokes song of all time. Julian and Co. remind us why they were the darlings in the early parts of the new millennium: their ability to snatch you up with their instrumentation and then carry you with their contrast of drawling and soaring choruses (whichever you may prefer). However, much like they have done in the past (opening up First Impressions of Earth with the near perfection that is "You Only Live Once"), they are unable to follow up their opening songs with equally as good tracks.
Don't get me wrong. Angles is exponentially better than First Impressions, it just simply isn't the Strokes we were promised ten years ago… Better yet, let's be honest; it simply isn't Is This It. While their monster 2001 debut had a teenage punk grittiness mixed with an endearing New York lyrical structure, Angles seems too, as stupid as this sounds, grown up. It is missing that core youthful edge that Is This It made us fall in love with. Maybe this is why Casablancas sings, "everyone singing the same song for ten years," on the second track.
Maybe it's because they have truly gotten older, or maybe it's because of in-band strife during the recording process. While previous records were written solely by singer Casablancas, Angles is a collaborative effort. After the members went off and did solo-projects during their break, they apparently all wanted in on the newest Strokes record. This and the scary idea of Julian sending his vocals in via mp3 has led to Angles.
"Two Kinds of Happiness" is the matured version of "Trying Your Luck." While it is better orchestrated and stronger mechanically, it lacks that eager feel the band had in their younger days. "You're So Right" is a waste of two and a half minutes of vinyl, but "Taken For a Fool" has a bridge and dueling guitar work that reaches back in time a little. The most intriguing track on the record is "Games." With a drum machine produced beat, guitars take the back seat in the chorus as synths and other electronics frolic around the vocals. This isn't to say the song isn't good. It certainly is, and is probably the strongest track on the album more because it jumps out in comparison to the others.
"Call Me Back" starts off strong with it's guitars but then gets too weird to function by the chorus. The closer, "Life Is Simple In The Moonlight," is like "Games" in the sense that it is somewhat experimental. It is a very redeemable track though, with the verse growing very well as it leads into the chorus. It also is a great example of the increased amount of solo guitar jams that this album features in comparisons to others by the band.
While it could lose some songs, the record is still only thirty-four minutes long. I look at it as a middle-aged record. A reflection on the greatness of your younger years and interpretation of the mistakes of your late-twenties. In that sense, this album was destined to be nothing but average, especially with the setbacks the group faced in the recording process. Nevertheless, they are already recording again, meaning (hopefully) those relationship issues are fixed up and ready, because where they go from here will likely define them as either the band who blew up the scene and faltered forever, or the band who rose to prominence, then learned from it's fall from grace only to regain it yet again.
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