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  • The Strokes

    Angles

    WIN A LIMITED EDITION STROKES MERCH PACK

    To celebrate the release of The Strokes highly anticipated fourth album, Angles, we're giving away one Mammoth prize pack which includes:
    - The Angles CD
    - An Angles once off limited edition T-shirt
    - The Strokes Playing cards
    - All wrapped up in a Strokes tote bag.

    To enter, simply tell us in 25 words or less: What's your favourite thing to do Under the Cover of Darkness?

    Note: There's nothing worse than an ill fitting shirt so please include your T-shirt size in your entry.

    ::CLICK TO READ OUR FULL-LENGTH REVIEW OF ANGLES

    Five years is a long time between albums, especially for a band who arrived on the scene in 2001 so impossibly trendy and fully formed that they weren’t expected to last out the year, let alone still be releasing vital records ten years later. And while all of their hastily-lumped garage rock contemporaries have fallen by the wayside, The Strokes still exist. They were always more assured as a band than the others; the combination of good looks, wealthy upbringings and the kind of gang mentality that can only exist when a band is comprised of close friends meant The Strokes were always destined to last, despite naysayers and band members predicting an implosion. Plus Casablancas always wrote the best tunes.

    And so, five years since their third album First Impression On Earth landed not a lot has changed in The Strokes camp, despite what Casablancas’ recent neon-‘80s solo outing may have led you to believe. The jagged weaving one-note guitar lines are still present, the precise drum-machine that is Fabrizio Moretti still anchors these songs, and lyrically, Julian Casablancas is still sneering, self-loathing and charismatically nonchalant.

    Watch The Strokes' video for Under Cover of Darkness

    The first single Under Cover of Darkness has by now been dissected and re-reviewed, and may have been a signal that The Strokes of old are back. This song is by far the most traditional on the record. As a first single back after a long hiatus, it is an amazing statement of intent. As an album preview, however, it is misleading.

    Angles is experimental without being alienating, reactionary without seeming forced and sounds like The Strokes without being a mere retread. Most importantly though, it points in a number of new directions for the band; an exciting prospect for five guys many assumed would choke on hype and trust-funds. This is it.

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