Album review: Gorillaz - The Fall

Last year on Christmas Day fans of the world’s favourite cartoon band got a welcome treat. No, Alvin and The Chipmunks didn’t release their second squeakquel on the big screen, but instead the inventive Gorillaz gave their online members their new album, ‘The Fall’, for free. The unique album was recorded on an iPad in just 32 days during the band’s tour of North America in the autumn of 2010 and it now finally gets officially released.

Gorillaz have never been a ones to follow the ‘traditional’ conventions of being a contemporary band so we shouldn’t really be surprised that Damon Albarn’s troop have managed to put together nearly 45 minutes of music on Apple’s space-age gizmo. Although what is very impressive is that ‘The Fall’ was Gorillaz second album in 2010 coming quickly after the critically acclaimed ‘Plastic Beach’.

Where ‘Plastic Beach’ had an abundance of collaborations leading to a plethora of electronic hip-hop singles ‘The Fall’ is stripped bare of glossy production and is pieced together using the finest apps the media tablet has to offer. The album feels like a spontaneous adventure through music and is treated as an on-tour diary or memoir which organically grew while the bus powered down America’s endless freeways with many of the tracks’ titles incorporating the names of the cities they visited such as ‘The Snake in Dallas’, ‘California and The Slipping of The Sun’ and ‘Aspen Forest’ amongst others.

Another of these, the album’s opener, ‘Phoner to Arizona’ creates a great level of expectancy for the next 14 tracks as it uses squelching beats, bleeps and distraught vocals to give an impression of the loading period before a video game kicks into full flight. It also wouldn’t have been out of place on Daft Punk’s soundtrack to the film Tron: Legacy with Gorillaz using an eerie sci-fi sound which is a heavy feature to much of the album. The intro to ‘The Joplin Spider’ almost feels like a homage to Ridley Scott’s Alien with the use of grainy fearful spoken-word recordings creating a strange suspense and sense of impending doom.

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Review: The Strokes - Angles

As featured on Virgin.com



‘I’m putting your patience to the test’ is the cry of Julian Casablancas’ distinctive drawl in ‘Angles’ enthralling opener, the slightly Caribbean sounding, ‘Machu Picchu’ and this is something he has been doing to The Strokes’ many fans for over five years since the New York rockers last album ‘First Impressions of Earth’ was released in 2006. Since then the five-piece had gone their separate ways during the band’s hibernation and focused on their own solo projects notching up no fewer than five albums between them.

In 2009 Casablancas and guitarist Nick Valensi announced the band had started writing new material so last year expectant fans were overcome with excitement when the New Yorkers made appearances on the festival scene with revellers tentatively stood in fields awaiting new material. Instead Casablancas and co gave two rousing ‘best of’ gigs headlining at RockNess and the Isle of Wight festivals with no new songs to be found.



Rumours then surfaced they were having recording problems with award-winning producer Joe Chicarelli and the indie band decided to record the majority of ‘Angles’ material at guitarist, Albert Hammond Jr’s, home studio in New York. The result is something of a variety album taking the best of the band’s three previous albums, ‘Is This It’, ‘Room on Fire’ and ‘First Impressions of Earth’, to reassure fans as they move in an experimental new direction.
Debut single ‘Undercover of Darkness’, which was released in February, wouldn’t be out of place on The Strokes’ acclaimed first album, ‘Is This It’, with punchy heavy guitar work from masters Nick Valensi and Hammond Jr pounding throughout. The high tempo song has a chorus reminiscent to the band’s most recognisable track from their back catalogue ‘Last Nite’ but gives the impression that the New Yorkers slightly resent the cult status that the iconic anthem gave them with the lyric ‘Everybody singing the same song for ten years’ (The amount of time that has passed since ‘Is This It’) and want to be taken more seriously. Lyrically this album’s message is one of frustration that The Strokes feel they can’t move away from their early work.

Throughout ‘Angles’ we’re treated to some unexpected 70s style prog-rock heard in jovial ‘Gratisfaction’ which could easily be a Thin Lizzy power ballad as could the soft pop sounding ‘Two Kinds of Happiness’. This reflective track has seen The Strokes jump on the band wagon of indie bands becoming electronic with the predominant drums in the chorus sounding pretty similar to the Friendly Fires’ ‘Jump in the Pool’ but with an assured confident coolness of Roxy Music back in their pomp.


The electronic sound, clearly influenced by Casablancas’ 2009 solo album ‘Phrazes for the Young’, doesn’t stop there with ‘Games’ feeling like something from New Order’s heyday abundant in synth that would work perfectly as new wave background music for the legendary game Sonic the Hedgehog. Moving on from the Star Light Zone ‘Angles’ regrettably does get a little muddled at times when the experimentation in filler tracks such as, the sinister Muse-like, ‘Metabolism’ and ‘You’re So Right’, which feels like a rhythmic chant that is sure to induce a headache, does go a little wrong.

These are minor blemishes on what is a very good return album for The Strokes, who find lead singer Casablancas in fine form, despite him recording all his vocals separate from the rest of the band as he felt he would ‘interfere’ too much (obviously it‘s nothing to do with them not getting on). This could have resulted in a very disjointed album but despite concerns from some band members The Strokes get away with it and the overall it goes unnoticed in the production. Although Valensi recently said he would refuse to make another album in this fashion.

As much as critics will be eager to criticise ‘Angles’ basically because it isn’t another ‘Is This It’ there is much to savour from this album. First and foremost The Strokes, one of the world’s most renowned guitar bands, are back making new music which can only be a good thing. Furthermore from the album’s title there is a sense that this record was a group endeavour with The Strokes members collectively contributing their own wide expertises, more than ever before, emphasising this to be a journey they’re all taking together. They give the impression they’re trialling new sounds in-order to decide which they want to take forward into the future as ultimately Angles is very much a ‘pic n mix’ record with enough evident successes capable of fuelling an entirely polished fifth album.



‘Angles’ jewel in it’s pretty weighty crown is the finale ‘Life is Simple in the Moonlight’, which was recently performed on American TV show Saturday Night Live, the guitars are let loose complementing Casablancas’ unique drowns effortlessly. This is when the New Yorkers sound at their most Strokes-like, almost as if they’re dragging the masses along waiting to give them what they want right at the end, this thoughtful track would be perfect for a festival set as the day descends into night and the stars begin to sparkle up above. If Casablancas is to be believed the band have more than enough material ready to fill a fifth album, so hopefully it won’t be another five year wait. What’s for certain is The Strokes seem reinvigorated and determined to shape their own destiny not caring what others think. As Casablancas defiantly signs off ‘Don’t try to stop us get out of the way’.

7/10

Craig Jones