Angles is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Strokes. It was released on March 18, 2011. After touring in support of First Impressions of Earth, the Strokes went on an extended hiatus in 2007 and then regrouped two years later to begin writing new material for a fourth album. The album took more than two years to materialize, with the band recording live demos of 18 songs before heading into Avatar Studios in New York with producer Joe Chiccarelli, but without Casablancas. While Casablancas’ disengagement may have been by design, guitarist Nick Valensi found the whole experience deeply dissatisfying. “I won’t do the next album if we make it like this. No way. It was awful– just awful. Working in a fractured way, not having a singer there. I’d show up certain days and do guitar takes by myself, just me and the engineer.”

There are a lot of different styles on this album. I chose “Gratisfaction” because of the guitar work in it and the Steely Dan-y sound to it. It reminds me a little of Rod Stewart and The Kinks also. The melody almost pulses. These lyrics stand out to me:

You get tired when the days are too long
You get lonely when the days are gone

Oh b-baby, don’t you be so mad because I barely remember
And she tries to recognize me with the eyes she saw me with in December
And she’s starting to realize that it’s actually not a good thing
And it’s so tough because you’re down to go out again and have another adventure
All her friends in the alleyway shout back, but she can’t hear them

But you’re never gonna get my love
We can only blame the sun
Get up in the morning and run
You’ll be frustrated ’til the day that you’re done

He got punched the mouth for sticking his nose in other people’s business
No good solution, always on the verge of some revolution
With tough luck it may take a thousand years but I think we can do it
Best friends fight, but they never enjoy life as good as when they abuse it
He said the soldier is a necessity, lied of all the failures of man

But you’re never gonna get their love
We can only fight in the sand
You get tired when the days are too long
You get lonely when the days are gone

He could never mention it out here and now
Without quick tears in his eyes

And you’re never gonna get my love
We can only blame the sun
You get tired when the days are too long
You get lonely when the days are gone

Oh you’re never gonna get this love
We can roll around in the dark
That’s about as far as we go
Get up in the morning and run

Songwriters: Fabrizio Morretti / Julian Casablancas / Nick Valensi