You Heard Me Right

After five years of absence, Julian Casablancas, Al Hammond Jr, and all the other strokes are back to hand out pretty much what should be known as a crazy tribute to the 80’s. Angels, the latest album from nyc’s rock/post-punk/indie outfit has pretty much everything a child of the 80’s or just someone who appreciates that kind of music will enjoy. The album starts with Machu Picchu, a synthy extravaganza that sounds quite reminiscent of the lead singer’s solo career and the shins (except with better guitar, obviously). The next track and lead single of the CD, Under Cover of Darkness, is a song for the old school strokes fans out there who enjoy a synth-free guitar based rocker similar to last night but with better hooks. This is by far the favorite on the CD, but when it comes to songs that sound like this, it pretty much stops there. Two Kinds of Happiness, the next track on the album, has a feel of a more grown up version of Left and Right in the Dark from Casablancas’ solo album, but with a Lou Reed meets Sting feel in the vocals, showing the singer’s improved singing abilities. Your So Right has a Joy Division goes rock feel to it, incorporating guitar licks that the band would be freakishly jealous of because they can’t do anything like that (no offense). This song shows a side of the band not yet seen, and old school fans may want to turn around if the experimentation gets to be too extraneous. I myself am enjoying it. Taken For A Fool leads in with Phoenix esque synth and guitar play downs, but with a darker post-punk tone that is known from the band. Games resembles something off of a Human League or New Order album, but a bit less electronic and more updated. The 80’s flair of the album I think is one of the high points, as the band has never sounded as tight as they have in this CD. Call Me Back is possibly the lowest point of the CD, as this song goes off into oblivion quite a bit, almost like they had no idea what they were doing. If it grows on me, I’ll be surprised, but this song is by no means bad, just not as cool as the rest of the CD. Gratisfaction has to be the most obvious nod in the CD, as the song sounds exactly like a Thin Lizzy song. Not that that’s bad, just a very obvious inspiration that shows that rock n’ roll is still alive, even if it’s ripped off. Metabolism, the next to last track, has a very Tears for Fears feel too it with it’s swingy drums and dark synth, but once again the guitar work saves this song from being lazy, and is my second favorite song on the CD. The last track on the CD, Life is Simple in The Moonlight, shows that the band has grown very much musically, as the song takes some of the movement that Call Me Back tried, but with a happy mood and great instrumentation by all the band members to cap this release off.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed this album more than any of the strokes’ prior releases to this because of my fondness for 80’s music. The band has progressed so much from a band that got famous for taking a riff from American Girl by Tom Petty and simplifying it to make Last Nite. Julian has never sounded better, and Nick and Al work great together as a guitar wielding duo. My only complaints about this album: it’s not OMG this is amazing enough, and it’s about 5 tracks too short. But minus those little complications, this has my stamp for the first nominee of album of the year.

Final Synopsis:

9.5/10: The Strokes’ tribute to the 80’s shines musically with instruments having more skill than all the other indie “musicians” out there, but some promises fall short. Despite this, the band is back and better than ever.