Music Matters

The Strokes finally bring their fans "Gratisfaction": A new Angles renews thepromise

"Angles"
The Strokes

Don’t think that there isn’t a little bit of irony in the line “Everybody’s singing the same song for 10 years” from The Strokes new killer of a single, “Under Cover of Darkness.” After all, it’s been exactly 10 years since they dropped Is This It on the world, a debut album that held all the promise of a band that seemed poise to dominate the rock scene for a long time to come.

Yet since that time, many Strokes fans have been forced to listen to songs like “The Modern Age” and “Last Nite” on heavy repeat simply because the two follow-up albums left them wanting more. And the band’s fractious chemistry, which led to four of the five members releasing solo albums since 2006’s underwhelming First Impressions Of Earth, didn’t seem to bode well for any comeback.

All of these facts make the ringing triumph of the band’s latest album, Angles, seem even sweeter. Maybe the time away and the side projects were just what they needed, because the band has spoken in interviews about this being a true group effort for the first time in their history. Whatever the reason, The Strokes have their swagger back.

It’s evident on the reckless thrust of “Under Cover Of Darkness” and “Gratisfaction,” both built around the harmonizing, Thin Lizzy-style guitar attack of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. and the propulsive and grooving rhythm section of bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti. Lead singer Julian Casablancas emerges from his signature unaffected croon to do some true wailing, and the band as a whole seems to be having fun again.

Of course, it wouldn’t be The Strokes without an honest exploration of the seedier aspects of the city nightlife. The icy funk of album-opening “Machu Picchu” captures that vibe effortlessly, but it also busts free with a killer chorus. Casablancas sings “I’m just trying to find/A mountain I can climb,” perhaps feeling hemmed in by the hipster scene he helped to define back in the day.

All over the album, catchy hooks and smoking refrains abound. But there is also a complexity in these tracks that speaks to the band’s maturity. For as great as Is This It is, many of the songs were one dimensional both in terms of music or attitude. Angles finds the band taking many interesting detours on the way to the inevitable, irresistible payoffs.

The album also finds Casablancas grasping for answers instead of simply detailing modern malaise and shrugging it off. “Call Me Back” and “Life Is Simple In The Moonlight” allow for welcome bits of introspection, as both burrow into the disconnections and self deceptions that can undermine relationships. The singer doesn’t pose his way through these songs. He imbues them with welcome, raw emotion.

From the New Wave moves of “Two Kinds Of Happiness” to the tense guitar attack of “Metabolism” to the ear candy of “Taken For A Fool,” there is nary a dull moment on the album. The band sounds invested in every one of these 10 songs, which the group produced, for the most part, by itself. It’s a far cry from the five guys who sounded self parodying on their second album and downright confused on their third.

Let’s just pretend all of that didn’t happen. It’s time to give Is This It a rest and give Angles a spin. Maybe it took 10 years, but the Strokes have finally delivered.

SAMPLE ANGLES

"Under Cover of Darkness"

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"Life Is Simple In The Moonlight"

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"Taken For a Fool"

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Movie Review

Over-the-top thriller The Housemaid revels in camp, chaos, and excess

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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