The last time we saw the Strokes in a music video they were dead. In the visual for 2006's "You Only Live Once", the quintet wore all white while dark liquid filled the room, leaving them drowned and floating. And if that really had marked the end of the band, few would've been surprised. Their third album, First Impressions of Earth, had them limping, desperately trying to expand the signature sound that looked to be swallowing them up like so much black water. It didn't work. And the Strokes are too cool and too smart to become one of those bands that puts out a record every few years just so fans can sing the oldies back to them, right? So they went away-- to an array of lackluster side projects, to families, to anywhere but the Strokes.

As late as November 2009, Julian Casablancas was non-committal on the subject of a fourth Strokes album. "We've been trying to do it for years," he said. "I'm always available and they know that but getting together is tough." Guitarist Nick Valensi went even further: "I'm not even sure we're going to make a fourth album at this point." But still, here we are with Angles, not a roaring comeback as much as a glorified spit-balling session.

The album attempts to rebuild the band from the ground up. Whereas Casablancas had previously written nearly every part of the group's songs including guitar solos and basslines, he steps back on Angles, which features songs from other members. And this revised process is evident in the credits: "All Music Written and Arranged by the Strokes." Casablancas called the new way "Operation Make Everyone Satisfied," which sounds condescending enough. And while the more democratic move may seem generous, the singer threw his clout around by separating himself from the rest of the recording process and sending his vocals to the band via electronic files. And the album's oddly collaborative origins are evidenced in both its scatter-shot diversity and its lurching fragmentation.

With its sprightly, dueling fret work and familiar, cascading chorus, first single "Under Cover of Darkness" hinted that the Strokes had come to terms with being the Strokes-- after dalliances with other styles and sounds, they seemed content with a revival in their own image. But, for better and (mostly) worse, that is not the case. Though this band was routinely slapped with claims of 1970s plagiarism upon their arrival, it's unlikely that many people have ever mistaken a Strokes song for one by Lou Reed or Television. So it's ironic that their mimicry can be uncanny on Angles. But traces of scummy CBGB punk are sometimes replaced with big-snare 1980s flash. "Two Kinds of Happiness" pilfers one-time tour mate Tom Petty for the palm-muted and hiccup-phrased verse before ramping things up in a whooshing vintage-U2 hook. And "Games" is another 80s throwback, utilizing crystalline synths and distant hand claps to help prove its dour and strained point about "living in an empty world." Opener "Machu Picchu" recalls "Down Under" dudes Men at Work. These are not the expected influences for a Strokes album.

Which would be fine-- great, even-- if they were carried through with anything resembling charm or commitment. Throughout, the album is hobbled by disconnections-- between verse and chorus, lyrics and music, intent and execution. Casablancas' ambivalence about his own actions crops up often. On the ugly prog wannabe "Metabolism" he declares, "I wanna be outrageous/ But inside I know I'm plain." Disjointed closer "Life Is Simple in the Moonlight" has him confessing, "There's no one I disapprove of or root for more for than myself." And while the singer's singed self-loathing was present in the Strokes from the beginning, it was always tempered with music that provided some uplift. But on the sad-eyed and drum-less "Call Me Back", he's left to moan about how "no one has the time, someone's always late" against a single guitar and ethereal keyboard. Listening to the track, it's pretty easy to see why people may not be returning his calls.

Yet there are still those moments when you remember why it's a good thing that these five guys stayed together. The beatific "Gratisfaction" is so easy-going and straightforward in its Thin Lizzy-meets-Billy Joel strut that it immediately rushes past nearly every other song here in the race for greatest hits-dom. Even better is "Taken For a Fool", which is the only track on Angles to really offer something refreshing while also sticking with That Strokes Sound. The song's verse is air-tight and bizarrely funky like some lost tape from David Bowie's Lodger, while the hook relieves the syncopation with to-the-point brashness. Talking about his general sonic goals in 2009, Casablancas said, "The ideal for me is to get really out there but have it go full circle and sound pretty normal." It's a worthwhile aim, and "Taken For a Fool" nails it.

As news about the Strokes' shaky resurgence has continued to flow over the last few months, two of the group's contemporaries chose to bow out. The White Stripes-- who faced off against the Strokes in a friendly Coolest Band Alive competition for a few years in the early aughts-- officially broke up after a hiatus on February 2 in order to "preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way." Meanwhile, fellow wry New Yorkers LCD Soundsystem will wrap up their run April 2 at Madison Square Garden. As it happens, that's just one day after the Strokes will play the same venue to kick-start their second life. Everybody wants to quit while they're ahead. Some actually do it.