Honestly, I try to be nice. . .

Music review: The Strokes try to find their way back

By The Burg Staff on Mar. 30, 2011
BY MATT ASHARE
To alter a quip from Ben Franklin, in this world nothing can be certain but death, taxes, and the inevitability that rock music will from time to time circle back to find renewal in the past.
In the fall of 1991, it was Nirvana who exploded convention by restating the suburban teen angst of punk in terms that captured something essential about the alienation of the times, ushering in the rebirth of a certain brand of aggressive “guitar rock.“
Ten years later, in the fall of 2001, the out-of-nowhere emergence of an odd little band from New York City — the Strokes — heralded the re-emergence of another particular brand of retro guitar rock that, ah, captured something essential about the alienation of the times ... or something like that.
     If Nirvana got their point across with bolded, arena-sized hooks and confessional, if often oblique lyrics, then the Strokes delivered their message in italics, with slanted melodies and the enchanting vocals of Julian Casablancas, a master of debauched elegance with a gift for singing in subtext.
     Spurred on by early British hype that proclaimed the NYC fivesome rightful heirs to the downtown cool of the Velvet Underground and “Walk on the Wild Side” Lou Reed, the Strokes employed a scaled-down, underproduced aesthetic that created the impression they’d arisen fully formed from the garage — or, in this case, a cramped Lower East Side rehearsal — on their RCA debut, “Is This It” (no question mark needed).

     Unlike Cobain, who came out of nowheresville with the flannel shirts to prove it and a giant chip on his shoulder, the Strokes were privileged prep-school kids slumming it in second-hand-store black with affected yet intense nonchalance that was intoxicating. I mean, there’s just something so blithely charming about the way Casablancas slurs his way through “Last Nite,“ one of several stand-outs on “Is This It,“ and a song that, amid insistent, even upbeat guitars, essentially can’t be bothered to care about a girlfriend who feels “so let down” and “so left out.“
     A lot has happened to the Strokes in the past decade, most of it not so great. Following up “Is This It” was indeed a tall order, but bleeding the seedy out of the cleaned-up 2003 disc “Room On Fire” and 2006’s even cleaner “First Impressions of Earth” was just a bad move.
In the wake of declining record sales, the band opted for a “much needed break,“ which left rhythm guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. free to pursue his own pop pursuits on two adequate solo albums and led Casablancas to explore the dance floor in his own wry manner on 2009’s “Phrazes For the Young.“ Still, I was hopeful when I heard that the Strokes had regrouped to record their fourth album. One can always hope. . .
    It’s not that there’s nothing to admire about the new “Angles.“ For one, Nick Valensi has developed into a formidable lead guitarist. And the band locks into the same propulsive groove on “Under Cover of Darkness” that drove “Last Nite” home, even if it’s a kinder Casablancas who earnestly croons “I’m tired of all your friends listening at your door/And I want, what’s better for you.“ (On “Last Nite” he at least sounded tired.) When synths mix with guitars on “Two Kinds of Happiness,“ Casablancas affects an arch deadpan that brings to mind the Cars. And then Valensi steps all over the song with far too much noodling, as he does way too often on “Angles.“
     In the end, I found myself humming “Last Nite,“ which is just another way of saying thanks to the Strokes for reminding me to go back and spend some quality time with “Is This It.“
Ashare is a freelance writer based in Lynchburg and former music editor for The Boston Phoenix. http://www.the-burg.com/blogit/entry/music_review_the_strokes_try_to_find_their_way_back http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/music/other_stories/documents/04726984.asp