gunsella
16-03-2006, 04:14 AM
From the outset of the new Strokes album you can tell it’s them, but as one would expect by the time of a third album, they sound more grown up. This is still the Strokes, but it’s no longer the rich yet reckless punks of 2001’s “Is This It?” Across the entire album it sounds as if they have not used any overdubs, meaning that at any given point across the album’s fourteen songs and 52 minutes you can hear every player clearly without excess clutter. This in itself is not a new technique for the band, rather it is one of the features that gives them their unique sound. The Strokes make good use of the twin guitar attack of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., and it sounds as if they are using stereo technology to it’s fullest, giving each guitarist one side of the stereo field to use as he sees fit.
And yes, this album breaks the thirty-five minute barrier that they have previously fallen short of on two occasions now – their first two albums both clock in at around 33 minutes. So are we looking at a new, mature, serious Strokes? Well, kinda. Is this is a good thing? Maybe. Let’s have a closer look…
Album opener, “You Only Live Once” is textbook Strokes, but gone is the top heavy, thin sound that opened their debut album. The guitar parts are luscious and complimentary, and Julian Casablancas’ vocal melodies are just as imaginative as always. The beat is infectious with a cute skip in it that you can’t help but shake your booty to. Fabrizio Moretti’s drums are machine-perfect, as always. There are a few more drum fills than we have heard from him before, and more of the room sound has been put to tape, instead of the transistor-radio sound that characterised them previously. So what is missing? Nicolai Fraiture’s crazy bass lines that used to leap out of the speakers grab your attention as if you were listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Don’t worry, track two and single, “Juicebox” opens with a killer bass riff, but it is still not as melodic as we are used to hearing from Fraiture. Texturally, they are going for something new – the bass riff is doubled note for note in the right speaker by Hammond. It sounds great, if a little unnerving. This is a band that thrives on parts of interlocking simplicity and here they are using the ages old doubling technique. Never fear, for the chorus brings them back to their old selves, but again, the sound is richer than we have heard from them before. And then Valensi lets rip a killer solo with a spooky tremolo sound – an effect he has not used before, but we hear at least once more on this album.
“Heart in a Cage” opens with an intricate Hammond riff over a jumpy 6/8 beat, more new territory for the Strokes. Sadly that is all I can tell you about this track. Three tracks in and no melodies are infected in my brain. Remember their second album opening with:
I wanna be forgotten, and I don’t wanna be reminded.
He said “Please don’t make this harder”
No, I won’t, yeah
Remember the first album’s Barely Legal:
I didn’t take no short cuts,
I spent the money that I saved up……
Their first album especially was completely trimmed of fat – there was absolutely no waste on it. All 32 minutes was perfectly timed. The melodies were grand, the riffs and solos were all in exactly the right place. At ten minutes into the new album (bear in mind this is already one third of the way through their previous two albums) I am loving the sound and production, but their song writing appears to have levelled off into a loose imitation of their former selves.
“Razorblade” is starting to get there again though. The chorus almost sounds familiar. Wait a minute – it’s “Mandy” by Barry Mannilow. The guitar work in this song is magic but it is spoiled by the Mannilowesque overtones. The melody wants to stick in your head, but I come up singing
Oh Mindy, you came and you gave me a chicken.
First single “On the Other Side” is sounding good from the intro. Five tracks into their new album and they have found form. Finally all the elements have come together – the infectious beat, the bass line, the meshing guitar parts, the killer melody. The Strokes are back. Not to say that the album prior to this point has not been enjoyable, but The Strokes have given themselves a hard to task, to keep sounding original, album after album, yet preserve their sound. The last thing a band like this wants to do is to isolate their fans. This is not Radiohead, this is not U2. The Strokes’ fans have not given their band a mandate to explore new territory. Strokes fans like their band because of the features I have mentioned previously. We liked what has come so far, and we want more of the same, but we want it to be new. Whew – a hard task indeed.
“Ask Me Anything” sees the introduction of a synthesizer and a ‘cello into the band’s sound. The song is good, the vocals are great, but my music sense tells me they should have sold this song to Damien Rice for his next album. I understand that the Strokes are using their third album to expand their horizons, but frankly, I feel that it is unwanted and unnecessary.
While Casablancas’ vocals are unmistakable, the music track for “Electricityscape” sounds like Garbage. To me this is sinful behaviour. Again, the bands’ departure from their old, stripped back sound is noted with disdain.
“Fear of Sleep” sounds like the Strokes again…. I could go on, but I shan’t.
If I were a younger man I would have reviewed this album quite differently. I would have congratulated the Strokes and preserving their sense of identity yet breaking new ground both sonically and in terms of songwriting. I would have loved it simply because it was the new Strokes album, and I would have liked it before it even hit the shelves. The review would simply be me finding reasons to like it. But I am no teenager and I don’t follow bands blindly any more. As my time becomes more precious, my ears become more critical. When I think of the Strokes, what springs to mind is a perfect and unique combination of rich guitars, fun bass lines, drums with military precision, and most importantly Julian Casablancas’ great melodies, arrogant lyrics and lazy delivery. Sadly these elements are not present in the right combination. It still sounds like the Strokes, but it sounds like a newer, more mature Strokes, and honestly they have failed to captivate my attention like they previously have. I want to walk away from a Strokes album with at least three songs stuck in my head for the next week. After around ten listens to this new album, I’m still humming “New York City cops, they aren’t so smart…” from “Is This It?” From the perspective of an audiophile, this is a very pleasing album. I will continue to listen to it for I want to like this album. But if I only had room on my portable music device for one more album, this would not be the album that I choose.
And yes, this album breaks the thirty-five minute barrier that they have previously fallen short of on two occasions now – their first two albums both clock in at around 33 minutes. So are we looking at a new, mature, serious Strokes? Well, kinda. Is this is a good thing? Maybe. Let’s have a closer look…
Album opener, “You Only Live Once” is textbook Strokes, but gone is the top heavy, thin sound that opened their debut album. The guitar parts are luscious and complimentary, and Julian Casablancas’ vocal melodies are just as imaginative as always. The beat is infectious with a cute skip in it that you can’t help but shake your booty to. Fabrizio Moretti’s drums are machine-perfect, as always. There are a few more drum fills than we have heard from him before, and more of the room sound has been put to tape, instead of the transistor-radio sound that characterised them previously. So what is missing? Nicolai Fraiture’s crazy bass lines that used to leap out of the speakers grab your attention as if you were listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Don’t worry, track two and single, “Juicebox” opens with a killer bass riff, but it is still not as melodic as we are used to hearing from Fraiture. Texturally, they are going for something new – the bass riff is doubled note for note in the right speaker by Hammond. It sounds great, if a little unnerving. This is a band that thrives on parts of interlocking simplicity and here they are using the ages old doubling technique. Never fear, for the chorus brings them back to their old selves, but again, the sound is richer than we have heard from them before. And then Valensi lets rip a killer solo with a spooky tremolo sound – an effect he has not used before, but we hear at least once more on this album.
“Heart in a Cage” opens with an intricate Hammond riff over a jumpy 6/8 beat, more new territory for the Strokes. Sadly that is all I can tell you about this track. Three tracks in and no melodies are infected in my brain. Remember their second album opening with:
I wanna be forgotten, and I don’t wanna be reminded.
He said “Please don’t make this harder”
No, I won’t, yeah
Remember the first album’s Barely Legal:
I didn’t take no short cuts,
I spent the money that I saved up……
Their first album especially was completely trimmed of fat – there was absolutely no waste on it. All 32 minutes was perfectly timed. The melodies were grand, the riffs and solos were all in exactly the right place. At ten minutes into the new album (bear in mind this is already one third of the way through their previous two albums) I am loving the sound and production, but their song writing appears to have levelled off into a loose imitation of their former selves.
“Razorblade” is starting to get there again though. The chorus almost sounds familiar. Wait a minute – it’s “Mandy” by Barry Mannilow. The guitar work in this song is magic but it is spoiled by the Mannilowesque overtones. The melody wants to stick in your head, but I come up singing
Oh Mindy, you came and you gave me a chicken.
First single “On the Other Side” is sounding good from the intro. Five tracks into their new album and they have found form. Finally all the elements have come together – the infectious beat, the bass line, the meshing guitar parts, the killer melody. The Strokes are back. Not to say that the album prior to this point has not been enjoyable, but The Strokes have given themselves a hard to task, to keep sounding original, album after album, yet preserve their sound. The last thing a band like this wants to do is to isolate their fans. This is not Radiohead, this is not U2. The Strokes’ fans have not given their band a mandate to explore new territory. Strokes fans like their band because of the features I have mentioned previously. We liked what has come so far, and we want more of the same, but we want it to be new. Whew – a hard task indeed.
“Ask Me Anything” sees the introduction of a synthesizer and a ‘cello into the band’s sound. The song is good, the vocals are great, but my music sense tells me they should have sold this song to Damien Rice for his next album. I understand that the Strokes are using their third album to expand their horizons, but frankly, I feel that it is unwanted and unnecessary.
While Casablancas’ vocals are unmistakable, the music track for “Electricityscape” sounds like Garbage. To me this is sinful behaviour. Again, the bands’ departure from their old, stripped back sound is noted with disdain.
“Fear of Sleep” sounds like the Strokes again…. I could go on, but I shan’t.
If I were a younger man I would have reviewed this album quite differently. I would have congratulated the Strokes and preserving their sense of identity yet breaking new ground both sonically and in terms of songwriting. I would have loved it simply because it was the new Strokes album, and I would have liked it before it even hit the shelves. The review would simply be me finding reasons to like it. But I am no teenager and I don’t follow bands blindly any more. As my time becomes more precious, my ears become more critical. When I think of the Strokes, what springs to mind is a perfect and unique combination of rich guitars, fun bass lines, drums with military precision, and most importantly Julian Casablancas’ great melodies, arrogant lyrics and lazy delivery. Sadly these elements are not present in the right combination. It still sounds like the Strokes, but it sounds like a newer, more mature Strokes, and honestly they have failed to captivate my attention like they previously have. I want to walk away from a Strokes album with at least three songs stuck in my head for the next week. After around ten listens to this new album, I’m still humming “New York City cops, they aren’t so smart…” from “Is This It?” From the perspective of an audiophile, this is a very pleasing album. I will continue to listen to it for I want to like this album. But if I only had room on my portable music device for one more album, this would not be the album that I choose.