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Neither horrible nor great, Time of the Assassins is an unassuming album, a working holiday that was probably more enjoyable to make than for anyone besides die-hard Strokes fans to hear.
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The Strokes-ish quality is in the music's rigor: Assassins combines groove and melody with the same machinelike precision that sets Fraiture's other outfit apart.
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His flat baritone suggests he’s still new at this whole “getting angry” thing, but the dude’s got the damaged part down.
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Tellingly, Mark Ronson loves this album. Truth is, it's fine, and perfectly adequate, but nothing more.
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Time of the Assassins could have used a few more trips to the Rolodex to bring in a ringer of a singer or two, since Fraiture doesn't seem up to the task, or necessarily even into it.
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Unfortunately, his songwriting isn’t much better, which is surprising given the catchy, melodic bass lines he’s consistently laid down at his day job.
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Part of what made the Strokes so exciting was the flair they brought to the old trick of sounding hot while looking cool. On his solo debut, bassist Nikolai Fraiture never manages either.
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Q MagazineWith stylistic echoes of The Kinks, Pixies and non-dancing Stones roses, the songs' themes of social isolation, romantic frustration and other junior Dylan-isms suggest a talent yet to mature. [Feb 2009, p.113]
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UncutIf the elastic funk of 'You And Everyone Else' comes as a welcome surprise, put it down to the contribution of underrated backing band South. [Feb 2009, p.85]