Is This Really It?
4 Out Of 5 Stars
The Strokes are one of those bands that have been held up as 'saviors' for so long that it's hard to believe that their total output for a decade is a mere four albums. "Angles" is the first time that they've - in my opinion - lived up to the hype of the first album. It doesn't sound like a knock-off (the reason my review of "Room on Fire" was two stars), and sounds more committed than "First Impressions" did. They've re-embraced pop structure, and Julian Casablancas' singing is at a new peak.
Even the first single, "Under Cover of Darkness" breezed by with an easy charm. Maybe it was the near five year break that motivated them, but "Angles" has that cool-band buzziness back. The punk urgency of "You're So Right" recaptures the CBGB rawness of the earlier days, while the new-wave "Two Kinds of Happiness" and "Games" take their cues from the chittering work The Cars were so perfect at. At the same time, the experimentation that made "First Impressions" sound listless is tightened up for "Gratisfaction" (best Strokes song ever?) and the moody, "Call Me Back." So maybe "First Impressions of Earth" wasn't as much a backslide as I first thought.
Overall, "Angles" is what "Is This It" originally promised from The Strokes. They had, at the beginning both attitude and ambition to burn. Casablancasa was as blatant an anti-star as the year had turned out, with all the attractiveness that would imply. The snarling twin guitars and snapping rhythm section are as tight now as they were then, and "Angles" is the sound of a band, while not making a masterpiece, still on solid footing.
No comments:
Post a Comment