CD REVIEW: The Strokes “Angles”

The Strokes “Angles”

Remember when rock ‘n’ roll was becoming cool again in the mainstream and suddenly The Strokes hit it big with a song called “Last Night”?   Yeah, that was quite a long time ago.   Looking back now, it seems like forever ago.   And now The Strokes have a new album out called “Angles” that is anything but rock ‘n’ roll.

        At this point in their musical careers, you would hope that the Strokes had grown as a band and as people, but that seems to be anything but the case as the lyrics indicate that this is nothing short of a high school demo tape.   The lyrics can be very childish and amateur, but so can the music.

        At their best times, The Strokes manage to channel The Police and The Killers.   At their worst times, they end up putting out songs (#4) that come out sounding like Smash Mouth.

        The truth of this all is just that The Strokes are not doing anything new or different.   They’re not revitalizing a sound or standing out in a way that made them a household name in the first place.   If anything, The Strokes are simply trying to copy as many other bands as they can in hopes of landing a hit or, worse, they have simply run out of ideas.    When it comes to this for a band, you sometimes have to wonder why you’re still doing what you’re doing.   Are their hearts still in it?   Do they really have anything left to offer the world?   These are questions I want answered before I try listening to this band ever again.