Alternative rock had been nearly strangled into oblivion by jock rock and rap rock. Bands like Creed and Nickelback and Linkin Park were the staples of rock radio. It was a bad, bad scene.
Then the Strokes debuted a simple, gritty record called Is This It, was a light, easy antidote to all the garbage on the radio. The Strokes recalled the 1977 art rock scene -- from Blondie to Television, the Cars to Talking Heads. But it also sounded new. It sounded like Manhattan in 2001. It sounded like what was going on. It may have been derivative, but the simplicity of that sound was a welcome change from what was going on in rock at the time
It's been a long time since The Strokes and The White Stripes led a garage rock revival that brought early blues and post punk sounds to a wider, mainstream rock audience. The Strokes have been on hiatus since about 2005 and their third album First Impressions of Earth. They are back now with a new record, Angles. do they have another revival ready? Unfortunatley, no. Instead of a breath of fresh air, Angles sounds like a band that hasn't learned anything new at all.
So what's the big deal, right? Shouldn't the Strokes just do what they do? They are after all, a rock band. This isn't high art or anything. Sure. In fact, the best songs on Angels are the ones that come closest to matching the spirit of the band's debut. The record's first single, "Under Cover of Darkness" is a good example. It's got that great, light guitar interplay, a hopping 4/4 drum beat and a great chorus from The Strokes' best commodity, the gritty, pre-dawn voice of singer Julian Casablancas.
Where Angles falls flat is the band looks further backwards into the '80s for inspiration. Instead of looking for new places to take their trademark stripped-down sound, The Strokes seem to settle in for a tour of early '80s rock conventions. The goofy, ska-ish opener "Machu Pichu" sounds like it belongs on Men at Work's Greatest Hits collection (not there's anything wrong with a little Men at Work...). Track three, "Two Kinds of Happiness" chugs in with a bland 2/4 '80s beat and some muted guitar, sounding like the Tommy Tutone song we've never heard.
By mid-record, after a bunch of songs weighed down by cheesy synths or drum machines, I feel like I'm listening to an early '80s satellite radio station with a cute name like Fred or Joe. Angles simply groans and stumbles around for much its 10 tracks like a Frankenstein's Monster of bad '80s sounds. I should have guessed by the record's cover. It says it all. This is album is a conscious attempt to unearth a past that most of us, I think, would rather see remain buried.
It's too bad really. I think The Strokes are theoretically a cool band. Any band that recorded Is This It should be able to give us more. In fact. I never thought the band's subsequent efforts were all that bad. I actually liked the single "Heart in a Cage" from First Impressions of Earth. At their best The Strokes are a good rock band. I'm not sure if they're trying too hard or not enough. Either way, we really don't need any more early '80s revival bands. Really.
"Angles" not Angels.
ReplyDeleteWow. Don't have an excuse for that one... Thanks.
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