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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

CD of the Week: The Strokes Back On Top

The Strokes new file swapping approach to recording may be miles away from the live, Manhattan garage punk sensibilities of Is This It, but the signature bouncy beat and resigned swagger return nearly ten years later on WTMD's new CD of the Week Angles, albeit with some electronic and new wave flourishes.

Perhaps solo efforts stoked some competitive fires (for the first time, the rest of the band gets co-writing credit with Julian Cassablancas, who recently derided the band's new found democracy) or maybe it was the sheer time it took to make the new record that created the well-documented tensions within the band, and thank goodness!

The wailing, double guitar attack and jagged percussion on "Under Cover of Darkness" sounds melodic and incendiary and make all the false starts worth it.

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