Different Angles

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The Strokes sound different. Remove Julian Casablancas’s vocals from their new album, Angles, and I would be surprised to hear anyone guess they were hearing the same band responsible for 2001’s Is This It.

It’s been five years since the Strokes’ hiatus following First Impressions of Earth, an album that was chewed to pieces by critics for reasons I never really understood. Sure, Is This It was practically perfect and Room on Fire was certainly closer to their initial sound, but I didn’t interpret First Impressions to be the ultimate failure most people said it was.

However, I feel like their latest release puts the Strokes at a weird place in their career. During their break, most of the members moved on to other projects. Casablancas released a solo album that nobody went crazy over, as did rhythm guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. Angles sounds like they’re trying out lots of different stuff, with a mixed bag of results.

I used to be a pretty big fan of the Strokes, so it pains me to say that I wasn’t thrilled with this album. However, I wasn’t exactly crushed by this discovery. When I heard the Strokes were coming back I figured this might happen. I mean, they went five years without making an album, and am I the only one who gets the impression that the band members sort of hate each other?

Casablancas was once quoted as saying something to the effect of, “The best way to lose friends is to start a band with them,” and he’s probably right. Couple that with the fact that Hammond Jr. just got out of drug rehab after a bad break-up just before production of the album started, and Casablancas wasn’t even physically present during the recording (he sent in his vocals via e-mail) and it’s not hard to see why rifts started forming.

The new sound is a whole lot more new-wave than I was expecting. At the same time, it’s also more eclectic than their previous releases. They seem to be trying to discover where they stand in the current music scene a decade after they became overnight superstars.

You really get the feeling that they’re giving it their all on Angles, but I feel like they should have a firmer grasp on their sound by now. Most of the songs on Room on Fire sounded exactly the same, and this is the kind of band where that’s a good thing.

Garage rock works in such a way so that it doesn’t really matter if one track sounds similar to the last one; it’s all about the energy. Angles is no garage rock album, however, as the Strokes’ energy seems depleted.

The opening track, “Machu Picchu,” may sound like it should be playing at an island resort run by Vampire Weekend, but the bouncy chorus is actually pretty catchy. This is actually one of the few songs on the album I really enjoy, particularly for the peculiar lyric, “wearing a jacket made of meat.” Oh Julian, I’ll just assume it’s got something to do with social situations as per usual.

What’s next? “Under Cover of Darkness” isn’t too much of a departure from their old sound. It’s their first single for this album, and it’s a decent enough pop song. Incidentally, Julian must’ve let the leash off Hammond Jr.’s and Valenci’s guitars, as they’re clearly not content with wailing on the same chord for two minutes straight anymore. The guitars have a lot more breathing room now, and that’s not a terrible thing.

The next track is “Two Kinds of Happiness.” Wow, the eighties just showed up. This song sounds like the Cars crashed into the Police. I’m not quite sure what audience is written for.

Up next is “You’re So Right.” Okay, what the hell is this? I don’t know what this sounds like but it’s got sloppy, droning vocals and a really boring guitar line. This is probably the lowest moment on the album.

“Taken for a Fool” gives us a nice return to form, however. The Strokes really sound like themselves here, with angular verse riffs met by the standard keyboard-guitar rhythm section during the chorus.

Just as I’m beginning to get into the album, “Games” comes on and I’m removed again. It’s a really forgettable, Casio-heavy song that, yet again, sounds like a different, lesser band.

“Call Me Back” has a nice melody throughout, so long as you ignore the creepy “Tell me don’t tell me/the hard part is telling” portion, although by this point in the album I’m convinced that the other band members are about as thrilled about Angles as I am.

“Gratisfaction” is fun in an upbeat kind of way, and it kind of reminds me of “Red Light” from First Impressions. Once again, it sounds vaguely like another band, something the Strokes never used to do. Sure they had plenty of influences, but they filtered them expertly into their own style. Now it seems as if they’re just trying on different sounds for size, and most of them don’t really fit.

Just as I’m getting bored I realize the album is nearly over, and “Metabolism” is another oddity. They’re trying to sound dangerous, and the only time that ever worked was on “Juicebox.”

It could be worse, but the last track “Life is Simple in the Moonlight” is almost worth the wait. It’s got the best melody on the album, and the band actually sounds focused in on their new sound here.

If every track was like “Machu Picchu” and “Life is Simple in the Moonlight” this would be a fairly triumphant return for the Strokes. Unfortunately, most of the songs are kind of unimpressive, particularly from a band that used to be capable of creating an entire albums’ worth of greatest hits. That being said, two good songs earn Angles two out of four camels.