JERSEY CITY, New Jersey - The Strokes, the band that a decade ago revived louche New York City rock ‘n’ roll, are releasing their first album in five years.

Formed in 1998, the group had a unity of purpose: cosmopolitan former prep schoolers dedicated to throwback guitar-driven rock and the downtown lifestyle that went with it.

But age, fame, addiction and creative foment splintered their vision. With “Angles,” due this month, the Strokes are embracing a new equilibrium.

“It’s just to get everyone happy,” Julian Casablancas, the singer and frontman, said evenly. “Operation Make Everyone Satisfied.”

The result is an album with 10 songs that are identifiably the Strokes - those counterpoint guitar riffs, Mr. Casablancas’s dyspeptic vocals - but with a twist. For the first time the material was written not just by Mr. Casablancas, but by all the members. And it was recorded not in a city studio but in a bucolic setting in upstate New York. They’re not the mature Strokes, exactly - “If I say that,” said Albert Hammond Jr., the rhythm guitarist, “it almost sounds so boring ” - but they’re close.

Whatever they are, the band has sold out headlining dates in the United States, and the release of “Under Cover of Darkness,” heralded as a return to the Strokes’ old-school sound, crashed the group’s Web site.

In the decade since their debut, “Is This It,” went platinum, the music business and the dominant aesthetic have shifted. Once a welcome deviation from slick pop, rap metal and electronica, the group is now part of a wave of indie-minded, guitar-heavy bands, which they helped usher in. Even as sales expectations have dwindled , online distribution has given small, independent acts as much exposure as major label finds.

In some circles the Strokes have retained their appeal. “D.J.’s play ‘Last Nite’ all the time,” Mia Moretti, a disc jockey, said of their bestknown single. “I think they’re still very sexy,” she said of the members, now in their early 30s.

In 2001 the British music magazine NME gave them a glowing review . When the band opened for the Doves, a British act, in New York, “there were record company limousines around the block,” said Gordon Raphael, who produced their first two records. In the early days, “We lived in each other’s pockets for several years straight,” said Nick Valensi, the lead guitarist. “We’ve been on tour and shared beds. ” Fabrizio Moretti, the drummer, dated Drew Barrymore; Mr. Hammond, the model Agyness Deyn; and Mr. Valensi, the photographer Amanda de Cadenet, whom he married.

But they rehearsed as much as they partied. That their debut album, “Is This It,” coincided with the September 11 attacks became part of their mythology as a New York band.

But the follow-ups were not as popular as “Is This It,” and after a 2006 tour they broke up. Each Stroke said he’d had his doubts about another album.

“There was trepidation that we would have been gone from people’s hearts and minds somewhat,” Mr. Valensi said.

Around 2007 he returned to the studio, along with Nikolai Fraiture, the bassist; and Mr. Moretti. Eventually, the others returned. But Mr. Casablancas soon went back on tour to promote his solo album. And then Mr. Hammond left.

“I went to rehab,” he said. “I just kind of hid, in drugs - a lot of drugs. I had to go fix myself.”

When Mr. Hammond returned, the tracks they recorded did not suit them. “It just sounded boring,” he said.

The Strokes headed off to Mr. Hammond’s place in the country, living and recording together for weeks. “ I remember Nikolai, in between takes, literally chopping wood,” Mr. Valensi said. Mr. Casablancas was the only one who didn’t supply material.

He believed his style would be a roadblock. “I’m just very opinionated,” he said over tea.

The process was still tortured. “There’s many versions of every song,” said Gus Oberg, who produced most of “Angles.”

All the Strokes said their problems stemmed from poor communication.

When they became a band, “I think we were trying hard to seem like it came naturally,” Mr. Moretti said. “And I think now we embrace the fact that it’s hard work.”


By MELENA RYZIK