Just in...The Strokes: Angles

    Officially not out in the U.S. until March 22nd, The Strokes new album, Angles is already upon us anyway! Angles streaming in it's entirety is available on their MySpace page, and I think it truly delivers. A lot of talk about the NYC band's past couple albums not being up to par, compared to their award winning 2001 debut Is This It, has left The Strokes with much to live up to. In my light listening of prior albums, Room on Fire (2003) and First Impressions of Earth (2006), most of the songs seem dopey, for lack of a better description. They need energy, not necessarily to be faster or more upbeat, but are missing intensity. The Strokes also have a certain formula to their compositions, which ages quickly. A few exceptions to these criticisms I can think of would be "Reptilia", "Vision of Division" (which reminds me a bit of Muse) and "Red Light". Their debut, Is This It, does strike me as more original, but that's because it is since it is their debut; regardless, it evoked impressions of a garage rock band in sound quality, which isn't necessarily a good thing.
    My first impression of Angles was a great one, upon hearing the first single from the album, "Under Cover of Darkness" on WBER 90.5 "The Only Station that Matters"--and then as a free download from their website. The bass and guitar lines had fantastic triplet rhythmic hooks and the middle section was a wonderful contrast of lyrical melody to the upbeat first style. I did wonder how the other songs could get any better, if they had shown their Ace too soon, but I have not been disappointed. Anyway, the next song I heard was the B-side to "Under Cover of Darkness", "You're So Right", which I was not as impressed with, but again it at least shows a different side to The Strokes.
    What I heard that strikes me as new and exciting is almost an older Beatles, Steely Dan or 80's pop sound throw back. Consequently, the creation and harmonies of their songs has greatly improved with this album, using great sequencing and pedal points, as in "Two Kinds of Happiness" (80's), "Metabolism" (sequencing and pedal points) and "Life is Simple in the Moonlight" (with a nice Steely Dan-esque guitar solo). They also explore a darker or at least minor key sound that contrasts really well with the more upbeat songs on the album, such as "You're So Right", Take For a Fool" (minus the major key choruses) and "Metabolism". Julian Casablanca's vocals have a much stronger edge than in the past, which does a lot to add to the intensity of the songs.
    The digital download is available March 22, and pre-ordered CDs will be shipped that date as well, to the best of my knowledge. Hopefully we can expect more higher quality output like Angles from The Strokes in the near future. Rumors of a Room on Fire II EP of sorts has been circulating and The Strokes are apparently already working on new and left over material from Angles already. For now, enjoy the diabolical sounding "Metabolism" in the MixPod or listen to the entire album on the front page of The Strokes' MySpace here. P.S. I think the Escher inspired album cover is pretty cool too.