The NYC band’s first album in seven years is sluggish and slight, rendering their signature sound as background music.

可以说the Strokes是当代美国最出色的独立摇滚乐队之一。不过与绝大多数美国摇滚乐队不同的是，他们的音乐更多的带有英国摇滚乐的特点。纽约的许多成功的地下摇滚乐队对the Strokes在音乐道路上有着重要的影响，而朋克乐队Television和Iggy Pop的乐队对他们的音乐风格也产生了一定的影响，对于乐队核心Julian Casablancas而言，甲壳虫乐队的巨星John Lennon对他的影响则是无可替代的，这也基本上是乐队英国情结的根源，而他们在很年轻的时候最为崇拜的乐队也是来自英国。
the Strokes的几名成员很早的时候就是相互之间最好的朋友，乐队的雏形最早成立于1998年，Julian Casablancas的是一名模特公司老板的儿子，他和吉他手Nick Valensi，以及在上小学以前就已经开始练习敲鼓的鼓手Fabrizio Moretti一起参加了曼哈顿一家学校的活动。不久之后，缺乏贝司手的他们找到了Nikolai Fraiture，并且很快就把他吸引入队弥补了空缺。随后，来自洛杉矶的小Albert Hammond也被Julian Casablancas邀请加入了这支还没有名字的乐队，小Albert Hammond的父亲是老牌的歌手兼词曲作者Albert Hammond，老Albert Hammond还曾经在1987年获得过奥斯卡最佳原创歌曲奖的提名。1999年，Julian Casablancas的乐队正式把名字叫做the Strokes。
在the Strokes乐队成立之初，他们只能通过一些小型的演唱会来展示自己，他们在一些酒吧，俱乐部，夜总会演出。经过了将近两年的不稳定生活之后，他们已经在纽约的一定范围内有了比较大的名气。2001年对于the Strokes乐队是具有转折意义的一年，1月，Rough Trade唱片公司为他们发行了一张只有三手单曲组成的EP试音唱片《The Modern Age》，但是这张专辑居然出人意料的引起了相当大的关注，随后的签约争夺战中RCA唱片公司拿到了合约，the Strokes乐队的声名也通过8月27日在Rough Trade唱片公司发行的首张专辑《Is This It》的英国版迅速跃过了大西洋传到了英伦三岛上，并且取得了相当了得的成绩，但是唱片封面上，一只带着黑皮手套的手放在了一名裸露的女人臀部，因而在保守的英国引起了不小的争议。但是争议归争议，通过在英国场场门票售尽，歌迷爆满的巡演，the Strokes乐队在英国的拥趸数量与日俱增，他们开始成为一股强大的摇滚势力冲击着英国乐坛。9月25日，《Is This It》的美国版本才姗姗来迟，不过专辑封面倒是换成了相对“稳妥”的图案，同时由于专辑是在9·11事件发生仅仅两周之后发行，因而撤掉了原来英国版中3分36秒的单曲《New York City Cops(纽约城巡警)》而改为了2分57秒的单曲《When It Started》。经过大规模的全美巡演之后，音乐风格与众不同的the Strokes乐队逐渐发展为了美国最重要的乐队之一，他们的音乐不仅得到了乐迷们的追捧，跟难能可贵的是还得到了一向苛刻的评论界的大量的赞誉之辞，他们独特的音乐风格的到了一致的认可。
2002年，the Strokes乐队展开了贯通全年的漫长巡回演出，并且还和另一支有布鲁斯风格的独立摇滚乐队the White Stripes一起演出，经过巡演之后，乐队的影响力日益增大。进入2003年，着名的《滚石》杂志在10月底把the Strokes乐队作为了杂志的封面人物，一句标题“The new kings of rock cut loose”足以说明他们所取得的成就了。同时，the Strokes乐队也完成了他们倍受期待的第二张专辑《Room on Fire》的录制工作，2003年10月21日，第二张专辑《Room on Fire》正式发行。 　---　上述简介均来自网络

Hype. It's a bitch. Ascending mediocre bands to heights of unwarranted popularity, and smacking the truly great down to ...

Japanese edition of the New York indie act's eagerly anticipated sophomore album is scheduled to include one bonus track. Details TBA. RCA. 2003.

《First Impressions of Earth》是The Strokes乐队加入RCA之后的第二张专辑，也是乐队的第三张正式专辑。专辑在美国发行第一周的销量为8万8千张,在本周Billboard 200专辑榜中的排名却与《Room on Fire》持平，名列本周第四位。在本周Billboard 200专辑榜中的排名却与《Room on Fire》持平，名列本周第四位。
在专辑的制作方面，The Strokes仍和包办了前两张专辑的老搭档Gordon Raphael继续合作，顺理成章的就是，The Strokes在音乐上不仅再次延续了之前的复古曲风，而且更是将乐队擅长做的旋律华的精彩的Riff发挥得淋漓尽致。无论是开篇曲目《You Only Live Once》，还是打榜单曲《Juicebox》，或是《Razor Blade》，The Strokes标志性的Riff都贯穿始终，而创作核心Julian Casablancas也再次包办了其中大多数的歌曲。

Angles is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Strokes. It was released on March 18, 2011, through RCA Records. It was the group's first album in over five years, following First Impressions of Earth (2005).

Artist：Julian Casablancas
Album ：Phrazes For The Young
Date ：2009.11.03
Label ：RCA
Style ：Rock
Myspace：
Website：
美国著名摇滚乐团The Strokes的主唱朱利安-卡萨布兰卡斯(Julian Casablancas)利用The Strokes的发片间隙在去年创作并录制了这张名为《Phrazes for the Young》的专辑。这张专辑中共收录了八首歌曲，其中包括《River of Brake Lights》、《Glass》和《Ludlow St。》，主要制作任务由曾与Hip-Hop达人Jay-Z、Coldplay、Gwen Stefani和Justin Timberlake合作过的Jason Lader担当。此外，Bright Eyes的录音室奇才Mike Mogis也在制作团队当中。

2002 reissue of their 2001 debut album includes the original track list with the controversial 'New York City Cops' which was replaced with 'Take It Or Leave It' on the US pressing. This import pressing also includes different artwork to the US version. The bonus DVD is in the NTSC/Region 0. The DVD (which features the same content as the US version) includes the bands 3 videos, 'Last Night', 'Hard To Explain' & 'Someday' as well as 2 un-aired live performances from MTV2's '2$Bill' show, 'Modern Age' & 'New York City Cops'. RCA.

Biography:
Little Joy is Binki Shapiro, Rodrigo Amarante and Fabrizio Moretti, three friends who dropped their routine at their respective hometowns to make a record in Los Angeles, California.
Through a chance encounter at a Portuguese festival in Lisbon, where both Amarante (Singer/Guitarist of Los Hermanos) and Moretti (drummer of The Strokes) had performed, the two chatted well through the night and into the morning by the side of the river, humoring the idea of working together on music that had no affiliation to their particular bands. A year later, Amarante traveled to the United States to record with Devendra Banhart on his Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon album. On the off hours of an arduous recording process, Amarante would meet with Moretti to discuss anything but music.
Binki Shapiro, musician and native of Los Angeles, was introduced to the pair through mutual acquaintances and became a fast friend, encouraging the two to focus on the music they had spoken of long before. Through the process of late night “show-and-tell” the three developed and arranged songs Moretti had begun and soon after started writing original music for the group as a band.
A couple of months later they all moved into a house in Echo Park to demo songs and soon after, with the help of producer Noah Georgeson, who had recorded Banhart’s album, they finished their self-titled debut, Little Joy, named after the cocktail lounge just down the street from their home.
Rolling Stone Review:
Along with Albert Hammond Jr.'s restless solo career, Fabrizio Moretti's new band suggests that Strokes side projects are an astonishingly great idea. Named for an L.A. cocktail lounge and sounding like one, the trio are fronted by Rodrigo Amarante, a polyglot Brazilian rocker who comes off like a languid Julian Casablancas. Binki Shapiro is the group's Nico, adding delicate vocals and glockenspiel to the lullaby-ish "Don't Watch Me Dancing" and the reggae-inflected "The Next Time Around." With Moretti on guitars, drums and backing vocals, the vibe is closing time at the Beachcomber: songs that conjure mid-20th-century pop with Jamaican, Hawaiian and bossa nova flavors. Like Vampire Weekend, it's indie rock getting its global groove on.
WILL HERMES
(Posted: Nov 13, 2008)

像越过冰冷寒冬，直接轻挑春天的旋律，万物因著节奏开始旋舞，欢乐的气氛又於细微之处留下了沙哑的声线，摩擦出温暖的痕迹。The Strokes的节奏吉他手ALBERT HAMMOND Jr.自己出了这张solo debut，有别於以往The Strokes出过的专辑，《Yours to Keep》一反冷调与嘶吼的曲风，请来了Sean Lennon, Ben Kweller and Julian Casablancas帮忙，并改以简明轻快、迷人沙哑的微甜风格掳获人心,教人心里温暖的忘了冬天的存在。
Debut solo album from Albert Hammond Jr., guitarist with The Strokes (and son of THE Albert 'It Never Rains In Southern California' Hammond) Recorded in New York's Electric Lady Land studios together with Josh Lattanzi on bass and Matt Romano on drums. That basic trio has been augmented on various tracks by Julian Casablancas, Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne), Ben Kweller, Sean Lennon, Mikki James, Sammy James Jr. and Ryan Gentles. The album was produced by Greg Lattimer who first came to attention as vocalist with New York's Thin Lizard Dawn in the late '90s. Rough Trade 10 trakcs.2006

2006年的《First Impressions Of Earth》后，作为新专辑《Angels》(3月21日发行)的第一首单曲，“Under Cover Of Darkness” 在今天凌晨三点放出免费下载（GMT 7:35PM）,限时48小时.

“The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.” – Carl Sagan
In a portion of his book, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, astronomer Carl Sagan explores the vastness of the universe and the unique position of the human race in relation to it and within it. The phrase “momentary masters” resonated with Albert Hammond Jr.—at first he found something humorous in this egotistical notion that one could fully master anything, but it also underscored the truism that every triumph is fleeting.
“I feel like the best songs I’ve written, as soon as I was done, I was like, “Oh my God, I did it!’ But in that split second that it comes, that feeling goes,” he explains. “It’s the same thing when you find complete happiness, you find this complete low. I feel like that’s what being creative is: It’s you bouncing with emotion and what you capture in those bounces. Accept where you are and use it.”
Thus Hammond Jr. has called his third solo album Momentary Masters—due to drop on July 31st in the US via Vagrant Records. Many years have passed since the release of his two solo records, 2006’s Yours to Keep and 2008’s ¿Cómo Te Llama?, and truthfully, the person who created those songs is in a very different place now. Back then Hammond Jr. was swept up in a whirlwind, one-fifth of The Strokes, indulging in an intoxicating cocktail of excess and all-consuming romances. When he finally sobered up, getting back into writing music was a daunting challenge.
“A year and half after rehab I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it again,” says Hammond Jr. “The first thing I wrote was ‘One Way Trigger’ for Comedown Machine, but before that nothing came out of me for a year and a half. If like life was a river flowing and I felt like I was on the edge. It was a case of, ‘Everyone’s in there, how do I get in?’” he continues. “Then when I got in, it was terrifying. Now I find it funny, like what was I so scared of? You can get the most of what you want if you’re there and present.”
The kernels of this new full length began with his five-song strong EP, AHJ, released on Julian Casablancas’ label, Cult Records, back in October 2013. AHJ showcased a bolder stance, his vocals are deeper, pulled to the fore, with less effects applied, each song is anchored by a more muscular rhythm section. Crucially, his approach to music has shifted; he’s flipped the page.
“I feel like my writing, for the most part, has been emotion and excitement and I just ran with it and where it stopped, I let it be—either due to being fucked up or laziness or whatever,” he says. This time around his compositions were more sharply honed, fired by a desire to write and rework his music until he was 100 percent satisfied. Additionally these songs were brought into focus with the help of Grammy-winning producer Gus Oberg—who’s worked extensively with The Strokes and happens to be one of Hammond Jr.’s closest friends; he was the album’s benevolent taskmaster.
“If I wasn’t getting it right he’d make me do it over and over and over again,” he recalls. “He was really hard on me—harder than he’s ever been. It was fun though, I’m not complaining. If anything, it’s nice to have someone who pushes you and I could tell how excited he was about it.”
Initial sessions for Momentary Masters began as a three-day stint in June 2014, an experimental getaway to test the water with his new band. Having established a solid unit touring the AHJ EP, he was keen to see how Hammarsing Kharhmar (the frontman of Mon Khmer; who’s been playing guitar with Hammond Jr. since 2008), guitarist Mikey Hart (Bleachers), bassist Jordan Brooks, and drummer Jeremy Gustin (Delicate Steve, Marc Ribot), would work together on his new material. Along with Oberg they convened at Hammond Jr.’s home in upstate New York, a converted barn he calls One Way Studios became their HQ. The space is half gearhead heaven, half welcoming living room, with high ceilings and windows that look out onto the woods. First up: working through demos for “Born Slippy,” “Caught By My Shadow,” and “Drunched in Crumbs.”
The sessions were extremely relaxed—they’d wake up, go for a run, play frisbee, maybe chop some wood, and then get down to it. Work days were followed by big family-style dinners cooked up in the evenings by Hammond Jr. and his wife Justyna; they’d all unwind watching John Oliver, Game of Thrones, or Boardwalk Empire. It was this summer camp-style environment that encouraged space for creativity and collaboration, which continued when they returned in September to lay down the rest of the record. (Apart from Bob Dylan cover, “Don’t Think Twice” which, with addition of a few overdubs, remains largely in its original, bedroom-demoed form.) The result offers a new kind of dynamism: you can hear it in “Power Hungry,” with its Morricone-esque grooves and a Mellotron manipulated to sound like violins; or in the aggressive stomp and anxiety-inducing guitars of “Caught By My Shadow.” Even on “Side Boob”—titled so because, hey, why not celebrate a good thing?—there’s a jittery energy that leaves the listener excited.
With the instrumentals largely complete, it was time for Hammond Jr. to retreat and write melodies, pouring over notebooks filled with impressionistic scraps, observations, and oxymorons, which he set about stitching together in lyrical form. The presence of these notebooks at all is thanks to a friend whose influence imperceptibly threads through much of Momentary Masters. A voracious reader herself who was constantly jotting down her thoughts, she encouraged Hammond Jr. to do the same, turning him onto poetry, and Anne Sexton in particular. She swooped into his life by chance—bonding initially over a mutual appreciation of Richard Pryor—and two short weeks later she passed away. This record is dedicated to her: Her name is Sara.
“I was already in that spot where I was really soaking things in: you’re sober so that’s what happens; you’re absorbing everything,” he explains. “She started showing me stuff that changed my idea of how to write and how to come up with ideas. I’d have never guessed I’d be talking about her now, but it was so magical that she came into my life for those two weeks.”
“Coming to Getcha” sees her presence expressly addressed—an imagined conversation between them sketched out, fragmented emotions that left an imprint, captured here so they’ll never fade. Momentary Masters is a record that reflects on missed opportunities, choices made, wasted time, and paths not chosen. He calls it “a love letter to my past self.” The music might be largely buoyant—spry, breezy guitar lines locking together and dancing apart—but melancholy frequently seeps into even the sunniest of toplines. It’s a record of acceptance too. Tucked in the song is an exploration of the reconciliation of two halves: the best self that you present to others, and the self that slips through and lies exposed when your guard drops.
“You know how you hang out with someone and there’s things you wouldn’t tell people? You portray that one side which you find to be most attractive, but eventually, if you become close enough, you reveal another side. Most people want to push that away and pretend it doesn’t exist. As good a person as you are, there is also darkness, and if you don’t believe that, you’re just lying to yourself. To be complete, you need to integrate that into your life and accept it as a whole.”
For Hammond Jr. there’s an unwavering thrill in creation and completion, and a hunger too for what’s next: he’s excited to get these songs on the road. Momentary Masters may be concerned with the duality of the human condition, and the recognition that life with all its peaks, plateaus, and lows is a mere blip—“enjoy the weirdness, because it’s all so fleeting”—but ultimately, in these succinct rock songs he’s communicated something that will morph in meaning through time, both to himself and to those who are listening.
- Kim Taylor Bennett

UK only 7-inch pressing features the album version of the title track and 'I'll Try Anything Once' (Demo of 'You Only Live Once). Rough Trade. 2006.

Taken from the 2001 album, Is This It. The title track is backed with two non-LP demos, 'Alone Together' & 'Is This It'.