The Strokes + Devendra Banhart and the Grogs

By now, you’ve probably read that the Strokes’ fourth LP is a product of their drama-filled middle age—a White Album–esque phase marked by catty in-quarreling, newfound sobriety, demanding family lives, uneven solo projects, megalucrative festival gigs and other such impediments to efficient rock-making. But what the Behind the Music–ready press narrative doesn’t tell you is that the band has never sounded more committed to its deceptively linear craft than it does on Angles. The ten-song set isn’t nearly as immediate as the band’s still-incandescent 2001 debut, Is This It—nor, thankfully, is it as meandering as its 2006 predecessor, First Impressions of Earth—but give it some time and the details really shine. Setting the stage for the Strokes' first MSG appearance is esteemed beardo Devendra Banhart.