The first single from “Angles,” The Strokes fourth studio-album and the band’s first recorded material since 2006, is out now.
The Strokes are New York rock royalty. This may be surprising to those that can’t recall their run in the early 2000s as the band haven’t put out any material of much worth, individually or collectively, since “Is This It” and “Room on Fire.”
But the fact that they remain the present kings of New York rock and roll in many peoples’ eyes speaks to the weight of those first albums, particularly “Is This It” — a debut which was truly monumental not only for its sound but for its influence in bringing back guitar rock and paving the way for the hundreds of garage bands to follow (i.e. Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, etc.)
“Under Cover of Darkness” is the band’s first single off the new album, which has been described by bassist Nikolai Fraiture as a “return to basics,” suggesting that the songs will sound similar to those on the group’s lauded debut. Rolling Stone has already declared that “Angles is the best album The Strokes have made since “Is This It.”
Judge for yourself—hear the brand new track right now below. Download at thestrokes.com.
February 09, 2011 at 11:25 pm, Ihfdayton said:
album art is the best part of the song.
February 10, 2011 at 12:05 am, john charles webb jr. said:
the track , in my opinion , needs to be remastered with more emphasis on the vocals and a diminishment of the volume of the instrumentals .
otherwise the song is dissonant , which is the nature of the song’s title .
February 21, 2011 at 5:56 am, Frankclouse said:
people need to stop lookin so deep into things, enjoy the fucking tunes
February 24, 2011 at 9:38 pm, WillMaimonis said:
i was wondering when the strokes were going to start writing music that was different from their first three albums. i’m glad they actually started using vocal harmony because the obvious fuzztone on julian’s voice wasn’t cutting it. it was childish garage rock, (which was good don’t get me wrong,) but this is a much more mature strokes and the fact that they actually started to write something new is SO refreshing. can’t wait for the rest of the album.
P.S John’s right they really do need to remaster and emphasize the vocals because the biggest part of their new sound i feel is the fact that they actually have something vocally going on aside from dramatic love song lyrics.
February 25, 2011 at 3:49 pm, Revbrodiddley said:
WillMaim, your comment if full of bullshit. The Strokes first two records contained the vocal distortion, but the third did not. The Strokes started out as a band eager to downplay ego in the sense of bands doing wild ass guitar solos or super complicated drum parts and, god forbid, slap pop bass. They traded all of that useless masturbatory style of playing for songs that made you feel something because the sound was a unit. First Impression of Earth was a huge departure from that aesthetic. This new single actually sounds like its going back towards the old style, but with way crisper recording style. Unfortunately, the guitarists are still trying to wank like they were on ‘…Impressions…” but this DOES sound better. On that, we can agree. They don’t need to emphasize anything though, thats what made them a great band to start out with. fuck you.
July 24, 2012 at 2:33 pm, 10 awesomely nude album covers | Death and Taxes said:
[...] father.The Strokes — “Is This It” The Spinal Tap-esque cover art for The Strokes‘ debut album “Is This It” was apparently a spontaneous photoshoot taken by [...]