The Strokes

The Strokes sound less angular yet tighter and fuller. Julian Casablancas' voice is still delightfully disheveled, but his lyrics are more self-reflective. The contagious chorus melody in "Razorblade" bites Barry Manilow's "Mandy" (no joke), while "Vision of Division" boasts a Brahman-influenced guitar solo -- and are those electric, backwards cellos on "Ask Me Anything"?

The Strokes making a third album? That wasn't supposed to happen. After all the tricks they
stole from their 1970s New York rock heroes, they seemed destined to blaze out in a storm
of booze and leather and Danish strippers, preferably in a five-room suite at the Chelsea
Hotel, with a neon sign out the window flickering the words too much too soon. But look at
them now. Julian Casablancas got married, reportedly quit drinking, and now he'... More >

You know how it is--the gym does more for your wind than for your jump shot ("You Only Live Once," "Ask Me Anything"). (Grade - ***)