The Strokes is hailed by some as the fathers of modern indie music. Groups like The Arctic Monkeys, The 1975 and others wouldn’t exist without The Strokes. However, for casual fans, the group’s later efforts have been somewhat disappointing.
These later albums, at times, sound like the workings of somebody who did way too many psychedelics and listened to the Talking Heads’ entire discography. Despite that, the band has always been capable of making fantastic songs that harken back to its best years. It just seems to choose not to, which is a respectable decision. The Strokes’ latest release, The New Abnormal, is substantial proof of this.
It’s the group's first full-length album since 2013, and although it’s not a total return to the sound that made its debut album, Is This It, a classic, it’s the band’s most complete album in over 15 years.
The Strokes have always drawn on early alternative and proto-punk bands, like The Velvet Underground, The Kinks and Television, for influence. In its early years, the band’s sound was indistinguishable from these groups at times, but as time went on, it did what a lot of bands wouldn’t have in its position — it experimented. The band branched out into new wave, semi-psychedelic and post-punk sounds that brought it less commercial success. While its latest album isn’t perfect, the band finally bridged the gap between these styles and found a somewhat happy medium.
Produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, who’s worked with everyone from Jay-Z to Johnny Cash, the album is a refreshing take on the group's twilight years. “Bad Decisions,” one of the singles off the album, is a return to its formative sound, but tracks like “Eternal Summer” and “At The Door” play on its more experimental aspirations with more success and are probably the highlights of the album. “The Adults Are Talking,” “Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus” and “Ode To The Mets” are also impressive as stand-alone songs.
The album's best feature, however, is its consistency. None of the songs on the album are more impressive than the group’s biggest hits, but The Strokes’ have been plagued by records with incredible inconsistency since 2003’s Room On Fire. The New Abnormal doesn’t suffer that fate. Not every song is great, but there are no points in the album that feel necessary to skip. Every track is enjoyable. It has a listenability that makes you want to revisit every song multiple times. The highs of albums like 2006’s First Impressions Of Earth and 2011’s Angles have a song or two that blow The New Abnormal’s best songs out of the water, but those albums also have handfuls of throwaway tracks.
The reality is, fans who complain about The Strokes new music are wasting their time. Lead singer Julian Casablancas is over 40 years old. He’s not going to go back to making angsty proto-punk tracks that sound like they’re recorded in a studio apartment. The band members seem much more interested in testing their creative limits. The New Abnormal is the new normal for The Strokes. Every indie kid on the planet would love a carbon copy of Is This It, but that isn’t going to happen. The band’s latest effort is a satisfying project and likely as close as it’s going to get to the sounds of Is This It and Room on Fire.
