Tuesday, March 22, 2011

New Music Tuesday - 03/22/2011

Under Cover of Darkness

Really just one this week, but it's a great one. The Strokes are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is their first release in five years, their last being First Impressions of Earth. There's definitely been a lot of hype (both positive and negative) around this return, but I, for one, am happy for them to be back.

I have been somewhat discouraged by the band's own ennui regarding this album. Reports were that Julian recorded his vocals separate from the rest of the band and the guitarist, Nick Valensi, supposedly hated the album.

Nonetheless, last week, the band made the album available for streaming on their website (though not anymore). I took the opportunity to give it a listen. While I don't think the album is beyond amazing, it sets in motion some promise for this band going forward. It's certainly less consistent than past releases, which is likely due to all members of the band participating in the song-writing, rather than just Julian Casablancas. The range of projects the members have been involved in since the last album seem to give this release a broader style.

The album has gotten mostly good reviews so far, though, despite the amount of hype they devoted to the release, Pitchfork panned it. While I agree with aspects of the review, I object to the writer not letting go of the view that The Strokes are little more than derivative by comparing every single song to an established artist.

I'm still excited for this release. I've been a long-time fan of The Strokes and I'm not about to stop now. Even better, guitarist Nick Valensi has hinted that there's only more to come!

No comments:

Post a Comment