It’s been five years since The Strokes last album was released back in ’06, but since First Impressions of Earth members of the world famous band have produced some memorable side projects. Not the least of which was lead singer Julian Casablancas’s solo album Phrazes for the Young, which touted a heavy array of musical elements that would never be heard on a The Strokes album, such as synth loops and melodies that diverge from The Strokes garage band style of music.
Angles as an album has much of what you would expect from a The Strokes, great hooks, a sense of raw emotion behind the lyrics and a philosophical undertone that says; I’ve been fucked with but I don’t really care anymore. The track Games has a synth portion, so it looks like Julian’s side project has bled into the creative development of Angles after all.
Call Me Back is the most distinctly unfamiliar track on Angles, its pace and tone are all but strangers to the band’s catalogue of songs. With a The Beatles-centric soft and slow picking progression that fills the track’s background, this track stands out as a new direction for a band that is known for rattle and hum tracks like New York City Cops. Gratisfaction has a bit of a Queen vibe to it, mostly because at times Julian’s vocals lean a bit on Freddy Mercury’s all or nothing style of singing and the familiar drum rhythm.
As an album that was described by the band’s bassist as “a return to the basics” there are plenty of innovative songs on Angles that are far from what you have heard from The Strokes in the past. When it comes to where this new album stands along side that of its predecessors, Angles would fall in second to last place, right after Room on Fire and beneath First Impressions of Earth and Is This It.
No comments:
Post a Comment