--Michael Drewes
---Released 10 April 2020 on Cult and RCA Records
It’s near impossible to find a rock band more influential than The Strokes were in the early 2000s. Their first two records, Is This It? and Room on Fire, both sold over one million records worldwide. In 2005 they released, First Impressions of Earth, their third album in four years. All these albums have a similar, garage rock vibe. The most immediately noticeable difference between the first three albums is the removal of the distortion on the vocals following Is This It? Otherwise, these albums almost perfectly encapsulate the free-wheeling rock’n’roll spirit.
Maybe the pressure to innovate was too much, or more likely, they were burned out from writing three albums of pure rock gold but between 2006 and 2019, The Strokes only released two full-length albums. The two albums released had a strong 1980s vibe. A nod to the past while cleaning up their sound to compete with the synth-laden pop songs of the modern age. Their latest album The New Abnormal, released on April 10th, 2020 dives deeper into that wormhole; for better or for worse.
Overall, this album is a much more obvious departure from their origins; even more so than their latest releases. The pacing on most of these songs is much different. The five longest Strokes songs ever published are on this album. And while the album isn’t broken up into halves, they are so stylistically different that I feel like breaking them up is worthwhile.
The first half is definitely more upbeat and dancey, with good hooks. My favorite track is “The Adults Are Talking.” To me, this is the style they should lean into more often—AKA: Less synth. The intro section to “Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus” is a little too much for my taste. The song “Bad Decisions” actually uses the guitar melody from “Dancing With Myself” by Billy Idol. Billy Idol actually received writing credits on “Bad Decisions” for it. I wonder if they wrote the lyrics before or after they bought the rights. Needless to say, Billy Idol’s version is far better. Similarly, on their track “Eternal Summer” they use the vocal melody from the chorus of “The Ghost in You” by The Psychedelic Furs.
The second half of the album is slower and more methodical than any of their previously recorded songs.They are essentially ballads, and unfortunately they drag on a little too long. Musically, there isn’t enough separation between the parts to justify the long runtimes. It’s somewhat of a snooze-fest, except for Casablancas’ vocal performance on “At The Door,” that was a bright spot. Actually, the best thing happening on this half of the album is Casablancas’ vocal range. There was definitely room for one more upbeat jam closer to the end of the album, if for no other reason than to break up the monotony.
Fans hoping for a return to the garage rock style of early Strokes should look elsewhere, and they probably have been looking elsewhere for years now. Miraculously enough, The Strokes still have all their original members, so all the pieces are there. Yet almost 20 years removed from their debut release, we’re still waiting for another masterpiece. This isn’t it.
Check out "The Adults Are Talking" below: