Listening Post: The Strokes - Angles

The Strokes - Angles - 2011

5 years is a long time in rock and roll. In five years the Beatles went from lovable mop tops to Sgt. Pepper. Within 5 years Punk had exploded and imploded and disappeared from the scene. In 5 years cultural tastes change more times than I change my wardrobe (seriously, I own a shirt that I've had for a decade. That's gotta be illegal in some corners of New York.)
It's well known that The Strokes did not record this album together. That's some feat as the record has some moments that are really enjoyable.
The story goes that Casablancas would email ideas and vocals to the band as they recorded. This was his attempt to force them into a more take charge position. I call bullshit. I think he's just not that into the band.

"Under Cover of Darkness" has the poppy edge of some of the finer, more fun moments of Is This It. And where they could fall off the cliff into Futureheads territory they avail themselves well.
Angles is a short fucker of a record. Almost half the length of First Impression and that's a good thing. The Strokes know that we have just that much tolerance for them and their brand of fuzz-pop. On the other hand, Ric Ocasek might want to sue for sound infringement for "Two Kinds of Happiness", a song more inspired by The Cars than just about any in the band's oeuvre but about halfway through it finds its own footing and becomes something great, but just as quickly its over and we're in germanic electro-pop territory with "You're So Right". And later the Chicago-inspired white soul of "Gratisfaction" is a left field kind of track that makes me scratch my head and just think, "okaayyyy...." And "Metabolism" sounds like they've ALL been listening to too much Muse.

A disjointed affair Angles is. There's no cohesion at all. But that doesn't mean it's bad. It's a bit uninspired. Room on Fire was like a sequel to Is This It, and Angles is like the album I would have expected after that, the one that sounds like they do but also like they might have a great one in them right after. Instead, this is the 10 year anniversary comeback album.
It's fine. It's like The Strokes. It's what they should sound like. It's who they are.

Grade: B-
ASide; Under Cover of Darkness
BlindSide: You're So Right, Taken for a Fool
DownSide: Call Me Back

Listening Post: The Strokes - Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young

Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young - 2009

Before I even start this I have to wonder: Why? Isn't Casablancas the leader of The Strokes? Isn't he the visionary that started that group and, without him, aren't they just a bunch of guys who would've been haunting bowery clubs?
Okay, no matter. Sure, so Julian wants a solo record. Fine.

1. Out of the Blue - This is what the Strokes should sound like by now. They didn't on First Impression of Earth. But this is what we were hoping they would sound like.
2. Left and Right in the Dark - Strokes meets Disco meets Flock of Seagulls With a killer chorus.
3. 11th Dimension - Disco Strokes. Take the vocals out of it and it's generic roller rink stuff.
4. Chords of the Apocalypse - Brandon Flowers has been doing this stuff already for years. Ripping off The Killers is a sure sign that JC has run out of ideas.
5. Ludlow St. - Odd, dischordant, overt synthiness, this is Brian Eno meets Gary Numan meets Neutral Milk Hotel
6. River of Brakelights - Take the worst of The Strokes, the laziest of "singing" and "melody" and marry that to what sounds like a found loop of "music" and you end up with this Kraftwerk inspired mess.
7. Glass - The closest the album gets to a melodic ballad. Which, if you loved ballads by The Cars, you will enjoy.
8. Tourist - A song so bored with itself that it just decides to end.

I would have given this album a higher grade if it was a Strokes record. But the sheer arrogance of Casablancas and the thumbing of his nose to the other guys knocks it down a half grade.

Grade: C-
ASide: 11th Dimension
BlindSide: Left and Right in the Dark
DownSide: Ludlow St., Tourist

Listening Post: The Strokes - Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llamo?

Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llamo - 2008

Hammond's first non-Strokes record was a whimsical little foray into the lighter side of the sound of his day job band. And that made it fun to listen to. I was kind of hoping his next record would show a little growth, expand on the sounds he can make, broaden the picture.
Instead he seems to be saying on the second track, "In My Room", "Hey, you aren't gonna make another Strokes record? I will!".
Maybe that's what's up with the 4 missing people on the cover of the record...

The one thing that separated the first one from other Casablancas led records was the vocals. Sure, the sound was softer and more playful, but not now. Now Hammond has fuzzed up his voice, lazied up the nasal and channeled his band leader.
So, instead of sounding like a fresh take on sounds by a familiar artist, he just sounds like a Strokes wannabe band.
This works some of the time. "Lisa" is a nice and dark Indie-fuzz rock track. And "The Boss Americana" is fun in it's own, derivative way. The only singularly interesting moment comes deep into the record with the 7 minute delicate instrumental "Spooky Couch". But if the best you can say about the record is to sing the praise of the instrumental track, then you have a bigger problem. There's no new ideas on Como Te Llamo and the old ones are played out.

Como Te Llama reminds me of Thunder Express, the spin off band by the guitarist for the now defunct The Hellacopters. A diluted, second rate version of the first, which was a band that ran out of ideas and just stopped being.

Grade: C-
ASide: Bargain of a Century
BlindSide: Spooky Couch
DownSide: G Up

Listening Post: The Strokes - Fabrizio Moretti - Little Joy

Little Joy - Little Joy - 2006

Little Joy is the side project from The Strokes's DRUMMER. Got that? This isn't the guitarist or the singer's dalliances. This is the drummer.
Now, I happen to enjoy the occasional drummer's foray. Roger Taylor? Sure. Phil Collins? Why not? Dave Grohl? Yep.
Ringo Starr? Umm...well, judging from the early tracks on Little Joy, whose first track sounds like it was taken from the original acetate, yeah.
Actually, there's a lot to like on Little Joy. It's cute. It's a trifle. You can't hate the 50's hawaiian surf happy of "Brand New Start". Or the wilting loveliness of "Play the Part". "Unattainable" with Binki Shaprio's Zooey Deschanel-esque vox is impossible not to like. And "How to Hang a Warhol" shows more humor than Casablancas has ever let on to anyone. Hey, Julian, hang out with Fabrizio, man.

There are traces of just about every power pop band here. Echoes of The Raspberries, Beach Boys, Serge Gainsbourg, The Beatles. Even The Strokes ("Keep Me In Mind") I'm not sure Moretti wants to leave his main group (though lord only knows what The Strokes are thinking these days) but this harmless offering makes for a nice spin on a rainy day. I really like this record more and more with each listen. The players wear their influences on their sleeve but they aren't afraid to dive in to the material. It's such a complete departure from what I know of Moretti's other band. I totally dig it.

Grade: A
ASide: No One's Better Sake, Unattainable, Don't Watch Me Dancing
BlindSide: Brand New Start, Shoulder to Shoulder, How to Hang a Warhol

Listening Post: The Strokes - Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours To Keep

Albert Hammond, Jr. - Yours To Keep - 2006

The Strokes all took some time off after First Impression of Earth, most likely to deal with the realization that they had nothing really to say or add after Is This It.
First out of the gate? Guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.
His solo album opens with "Cartoon Music for Super Heroes" which sounds more like The Beach Boys run through Neutral Milk Hotel's taffy machine. And that's a blessing. Because immediately following, "In Transit" could have fallen off any Strokes record, albeit more reedy than Casablancas, Hammond doesn't stray too far from the proven formula. The addition of keys just give it a softer, more twee Indie feel, but the template is there. Terse 16th notes, bassline follow suit on the chorus, ambiguous melody. yeah, this is a Room on Fire cut. "Everyone Gets a Star" keeps things bright, sure, but there's no mistaking this record for anything but a sweeter version of a Strokes record. Actually, Hammond's upbeat texturing shows us that, in fact, The Strokes were really just Cake as influenced by The Velvet Underground.
There are moments, however, that show what Hammond could really be all about. That first cut and the middle track, "Blue Skies", an acoustic piece of Lennonilia and "Call an Ambulance" is a jaunty little bit. While "Back to the 101" sure sounds like it COULD be a Strokes song, the flourishes on the arrangement give it a lot of air and place to breath, making it one of the better tracks on the record. "Scared" is screaming to be part of the main band's coterie, but at this point they might have all been wondering if there would ever be another track. Either way, it's a sublime piece of new New Wave psychedelic Indie Rock.

I was hoping for more from this record, considering that a) Hammond comes from such strong songwriting lineage and b) why redo what's already been done so well on that groundbreaking first Strokes record? There are no surprises and really nothing egregious. The entire affair is pleasant enough. It's a bright and sweet record. it won't change your life and you won't find yourself reaching for it much, but it is easier on the ears than some of the Strokes stuff.

Grade: B+
ASide: Cartoon Music for Super Heroes, Scared
BlindSide: Blue Skies, Back to the 101

Listening Post: The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth

The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth - 2006

THe first strains of "You Only Live Once", the opening track of First Impressions of Earth, The Strokes' 3rd album, is scarily reminiscent of Queen's "I Want to Break Free". And the more it plays, the less like the Strokes it sounds and the more like 70s classic rock. It's tasty and fun and suggests that the band may be ready to stretch. The two of the punch is "Juicebox", whose bassline is a direct rip of Peter Gunn or The Munsters, depending on your favorite black and white 60s theme song preference. After that intro the song just keeps it's driving energy, superb guitar noodling and tautness intact. It's excellent. As is the 3rd track, "Heart in a Cage", filled with tribal drumming and a calliope of guitars, the song is a merry go round ride.
So, why did the album fail so hard? I confess, I didn't listen to it, either, even though I have it. (I think it was obtained during a debauched "12 CDs for a Penny" club experience)
Was it just a backlash or was the album as mediocre as its reputation?
It turns out the backlash was sort of deserved. Where previously The Strokes had given us tight, taut, pop-sleaze, after the opening few tracks it feels like they simultaneously stopped trying and tried to hard. "Razorblade" sounds phoned in and headache inducing and when Casablancas sings "I'm tired of everyone...." on "On The Other Side" I can't help but believe him. The ugliness really shows it's head on "Vision of Division" a sort of Strokes meets Muse meets System of a Down nightmare that makes you wonder, "You guys couldn't find anything to cut on this album????".
There are glimmers of goodness tucked inside the morass of wayward experimentation, like "Electricityscape", which, had it been the lead track (and the album 4 cuts shorter) might have resulted in a better received work. But, as it stands, First Impressions sounds like a band that has not only run out of ideas but is bored with the ideas they do have, those ideas and styles having boxed them into a corner that has their shortcomings stand out like an albino in Africa.

Grade: C-
ASide: You Only Live Once, Juicebox, Heart in a Cage
BlindSide: Electricityscape
DownSide: Vision of Division, 15 Minutes, Fear of Sleep

Listening Post: The Strokes - Room On Fire

The Strokes - Room On Fire - 2003

This is the first album I bought digitally on iTunes. I remember it like it was yesterday. Weird. Dunno what that means, if it means anything. Milestones.....

When The Cars first album came out it was such a masterwork of stripped down 3 chord pop rock that on their follow up all they did was repeat the formula with a slew of good songs in the exact same style and idiom. It worked and Candy-O was a smash.

The Strokes followed up Is This It with a collection of songs that were, if possible, catchier and even more accessible. They made it seem easy, dammit.
There's even a guitar solo from Albert Hammond on "Reptilia" that is scores better than his solo on "Last Night". One after another, the songs on Room on Fire are electric, poppy and recognizable but never out live their welcome. The album clocks in at barely over 30 minutes and each moment is a little piece of pop confection. There's no real surprises here, (well, maybe the neo-soul of "Under Control") but that's fine, what we want from The Strokes is just what they give us: Lo-fi NY pop rock.

Grade: A+
ASide: Reptilia, What Ever Happened, 12:51, The End Has No End, I Can't Win
BlindSide: Automatic Stop, Under Control, The Way It Is

Review number 458

Listening Post: The Strokes - Is This It

The Strokes - Is This It - 2001

Fall, 2001.
It's early morning. Actually, more like 10 am. I'm flipping the dials and come to MTV. I still watch the channel every once in a while but I'm not sure why anymore. Popular music has become a vast wasteland of bubblegum pop, rap and rap/metal fusion. It's not fun for someone like me who was weaned on classic rock and pop. It's rather unnerving and depressing. My own band is barely a year old and we are already outdated. We play rock songs with choruses and verses and bridges and no studio tricks. As few tracks as possible to get the points of the songs across.
When I see something that really catches my attention. It's a scraggly band flopping around to a lo-fi steady beat. It's caustic and catchy and aggressive and fun as hell. It's "Last Night" by The Strokes. I make a quick note of the fact that I went to college with the video's director, turn off the tv, walk up the street to Virgin, buy the album and it's on steady play for the rest of the year.

To say that Is This It is an important album in the annals of rock history is just to acknowledge a truth. The Strokes make britpop possible. The Libertines. Arctic Monkeys. The Vines. The Hives. Jet. Scores of rock BANDS emerge. As quickly as Nirvana wiped away hair metal so did The Strokes kill Limp Bizkit (well, it took a little while, but....)

Taking what they've learned and loved of The Velvet Underground, The Cars The Stooges and so many others, and building on them as blocks, The Strokes' first album is a masterwork of pop and rock. Sure, singer Julian Casablancas's voice is distorted to the point of becoming fuzz, that's the point. He's singing about some scuzzy things, ("Barely Legal"? "Soma"?) these downtowners of his songs. The album is decidedly lo-fi as the instruments are mic'd for the most immediate sound. This is NOT a pro-tools record with dozens of overdubs. There are no more than 11 tracks used on the album...ever.

The result has been called one of the 1000 albums you must hear before you die. I concur. It's as listenable as it is important.

A couple years later a DJ calling himself DJ Hellraiser would mashup the music of "Hard to Explain" with Christina Aquilera's "Genie in a Bottle", proving once and for all that music is music is music and how it's wrapped up really shouldn't matter. But for this moment, ten years ago, boy did it matter.

Grade: A+
ASide: Barely Legal, Last Night, Is This It
BlindSide: Someday, Hard to Explain, The Modern Age