REVIEW: The Strokes - Angles

The Strokes - Angles
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The Strokes released one of the best and most significant albums of the past 10 years with their 2001 debut, Is This It. It wasn’t so much that the music was completely original as much as it was a revival of something that was once previously relegated to a past era. The hype that surrounded the band leading up to and following the release of Is This It created quite a lot for the band to live up to. The follow-up album, Room On Fire, didn’t take too many risks and stayed the course – a well-received effort considering the pressure that must have been on them to match the success of their debut. The third album, First Impressions of Earth, saw the band trying to step outside the shadow of their identifiable sound, experimenting a bit with generally positive results – not their best work, but certainly something that succeeded in its own right.

It’s now been five years since The Strokes released an album of new material, and Angles is being heralded as their comeback record. Unfortunately, it seems as though The Strokes are being labeled as one of those bands with a great debut that could never escape the shadow of past success. With an album as defining as Is This It to their name, a great many went on hoping for more of the same, when – understandably – the band have always wanted to grow and create something that was more than just a reiteration of what they’ve previously done. Angles is the first step in the realization of the band’s evolution, and it is their most daring, creative effort since Is This It.

The Strokes Reveal Cover Art For New LP Angles

As we already know, The Strokes are set to release their highly-anticipated fourth album, Angles, on March 21st through Rough Trade (UK) and March 22nd through RCA (US). We've checked out the first single "Under Cover of Darkness," and now we have a visual representation of the album. Above is the cover art for Angles which The Strokes revealed via Twitter just moments ago. What do you think?

And if you happened to miss your chance to hear/download "Under Cover of Darkness," you can stream it below via YouTube (which, I must stress, Mixtape Muse had no hand in uploading). It is the 21st century, so it's not surprising someone uploaded the song to YouTube faster than you can say "Last Nite."

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD: The Strokes new single "Under Cover of Darkness"

After their homepage briefly broke the freaking Internet, The Strokes have offered up free streaming and downloading of their new single "Under Cover of Darkness". For the majority of their fans, this is the first glimpse of new material (a smattering of fans witnessed the band's reunion this past summer when they headlined Isle of Wight, Lollapalooza, and other festivals) since 2006's First Impressions of Earth.

The Strokes, rock behemoths though they have become, are always a touchy subject among music lovers (at least in this fan's humble experience). Lucky enough to have Is this It (2001) grace Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time at #367, their appeal has always been in question. Some people aren't looking for such a tightly packaged style of rock, others don't find the crooning (if you can call it that) of Julian Casablancas as mesmerizing as die-hard fans do. Not that I have the clout to declare something like this (hey, it's the Internet, so we can pretend!), but all The Strokes are is damn good Rock 'n' Roll.

No matter how you play it, "Under Cover of Darkness" is a well-crafted pop song in the style that unquestionably belongs to The Strokes. It's driven by slick guitar lines and a scarily precise percussion section (big-time kudos to bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti), not to mention some seriously well-done background vocals in the last 50 seconds of the track.

Listen, it might not be groundbreaking in new styles and it may sound just like The Strokes of old, but at this point there's no denying that this New York City quintet has some remarkable talent.

You, me, your mom, your roommate, and everyone else can stream/download the track for free of The Strokes website via the link...after the hop.

You Know There's A New Strokes Album Coming Out? Right? Details!

Well, unless you were avoiding the internet or didn't bother getting up over the past week or so, you're probably aware that The Strokes are set to release their fourth LP on March 22nd. If there was ever a highly anticipated record, it would have to be this one, arriving a little over 5 years after the release of the band's last LP, First Impressions of Earth. 

Initial details of the release were broken by Rolling Stone, and were confirmed by singer Julian Casablancas on his Twitter. The new album will be called Angles and the first single will be "Under Cover of Darkness." Referring to the title, guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. told Rolling Stone, "It's what the record sounds like. It comes from five different people."

Check out the album's tracklist after the jump.