The Strokes - Life Is Simple In The Moonlight
"Life Is Simple In The Moonlight", the only released track from the 2009 sessions.
Forming in New York in the 2000s, The Strokes are one member of the decade's Big Four Garage Rock Revivalists (the other three are The White Stripes, The Hives, and The Vines). Their 2001 debut, Is This It, is considered to be one of the finest albums of the decade. Their rough-as-nails yet somehow slick and catchy style helped put them on the map and gave them a unique voice. Depending on who you talk to in their fanbase, their sound either slowly got better or worse as they continued recording, beginning with 2003's Room on Fire. After their third album, First Impressions of Earth, flopped in 2007, the band took a two-year break.
They got back together in 2009 to record a new album, which they would eventually title Angles. The band had great difficulty finding motivation to write new material. Their producer, Joe Chiccarelli, got them to write 18 songs that were reminiscent of their material on Is This It with a few extra "modern" twists. Dissatisfied with Chiccarelli's "reserved" methods of production, Jullian Cassablancas (the band's leader and vocalist) fired the producer. All but one of the 18 recorded tracks were thrown out for the final album ("Life Is Simple In The Moonlight" being the only remaining track used).
When the album was released in March 2011, it was met with a very mixed reception. Critics and fans felt confused as to what the album's musical message was trying to be, not really appreciating the electronic feel as much. The one song fans seemed to really agree on was the above-mentioned "Life Is Simple In The Moonlight". This has left fans clamouring for the remaining 17 tracks to be released, with Casablancas stubbornly holding onto the tapes. He's refusing to acknowledge that Angles may have been somewhat of a failure. Bootlegs from the recent era of The Strokes are rare and it is unlikely these songs will see release anytime soon.