The Strokes: Angles

     It has been almost a decade since The Strokes released Is this It, the landmark album that knocked boybands off the map, and allowed creative music to have mass appeal.  Since then, The Strokes have released two more albums to mixed reviews, before taking a nearly five year hiatus to decide where, if anywhere, they wanted the direction of the band to go.
    They  have now released Angles, which is something of a return to classic Strokes form, although slightly tweaked.  The band reemerges as a post-punk band.  The difference is, however, is that where initially The Strokes sounded like a band playing CBGB's in the early 70s, they now sound like a band playing there in the early 80s.  This most recent album has a more polished New-Wave sound, abandoning their raw guitar work for more precise instrumentation, and laced with synthesizers.  Despite it's more lacquered sound, Angles is still a return to the short punchy rock that put The Strokes on the map.  Fans of The Strokes, as well as post-punk in general, will enjoy the music throughout.  The music seems a little sadder on this album, best evidenced by the song "Call Me Back," which forgoes any percussion, and only has sparse keyboard and guitar to aid the vocals.  Some of this dolefulness may stem from lead vocalists Julian Casablanca's apathy to this album (as of late 2009, he was unsure of the future of the band, and even after he committed to the project, opted to mail his work into the band rather than be part of a recording process.)
     After all is said and done, The Strokes have resurfaced with a good album.  Fans expecting another masterpiece like the greatness achieved 10 years ago, may be disappointed, but people looking for a solid album that shows a bands reshaping over the years, will be pleasantly surprised.