"Not since The Replacements," said Wynona Ryder once. She was talking about the newly-arrived Strokes, who she was entirely smitten with. "If Wynona likes you, then you've made it," quipped her best mate in nutcase adventures, Courtney Love. Well, yeah, the Strokes, did "make it" with their very first album, especially in the UK, where they were lauded as the "best band....EVER".... No prizes for guessing which music weekly came up with that idiotic cliche. Anyway, their debut really was a rather good album and the band also sounded quite tight and good live. Good songs, tight sound and playing, boring stage presence, That was the Strokes about 8-9 years ago. They sold a good amount of records, some accused them of being rich boys, others simply applauded their songwriting skills. Throughout the years their debut album has become a bit of a classic. Great....But therein also lies a bit of a problem. Since then everything they've done has been compared to IS THIS IT?. And none too favourably too. They've tried evolving without drastically changing the formula, but they simply can't win. Same with the latest album - ANGLES. It preserves the, by now, "classic" Strokes sound, but also attempts a few forays into different territory. This is no bad thing, but, alas, people seem to want the same old Strokes, the ones from the first album. Which is why they'll embrace songs like Under Cover of Darkness, not the tracks that use samples and other "fancy shit". They'll warm to the "retro rock", not the 1980s New Wave influences, however slight they may be. They'll also want their boys to be dressed the same way they first discovered them. Some will see this album as a welcome progression, others as another step backwards from the glory of the debut. Who knows....Maybe we should ask Wynona Ryder!