After seven years since their last studio album, listeners are finally introduced to the sixth album by The Strokes, "The New Abnormal," which has been met with serious anticipation. Surely, whenever any major band goes through a several year layoff without new material, (The Strokes last release was a 2016 EP) there will be inevitable hope from longtime and recent fans alike, but even this time around, things seemed different. It seemed as if the band was finally onto an evolution that could separate them from the "This Is It" formula that made them New York City superstars and changed the course of early 2000's rock.
Attending their New Year's Eve show in Brooklyn, two of the previously unreleased songs featured on "The New Abnormal" made it onto the setlist. They ended up being the opener and closer of the album, two of the album highlights. Indeed there is an evolution evident within the nine tracks provided. Perhaps most notably is Julian Casablancas' The Voidz, with full-on experimentation seen towards the end of the lead single, "At The Door."
Having Rick Rubin as producer shows that the band isn't here to fuck around, and the new direction, while still at their core maintaining the same "Strokes" formula, works mostly well. There is maturity. Maturity in the lyrics. Maturity in the songwriting, (many are over five minutes) and maturity as a band.
The album opener, "The Adults Are Talking," features many of the distinct sounds The Strokes are known for, yet sounds complete and precise in a fantastic start.
"Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus," another early album highlight, has an infectious chorus that's tough to get out of your head. Simply put, it's The Strokes at their best; both modern and fresh, yet still so familiar and enjoyable.
The chorus to "Bad Decisions," an upbeat song about doing exactly what the title hints, is practically Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself," enough so that Idol himself has songwriting credits. Yet, it is hard to deny that the similarity limits the song's enjoyability.
"Ode to the Mets," the album's closer, is a genuinely beautiful song, yet when the final notes disappear, you're left still with the potential the band has carried for nearly two decades. The steps in the right direction are evident; when it works, the songwriting is crisp and a breath of fresh air. When it doesn't, it's Julian mumbling about nonsense while the rest of the band seems to find a place to fill the words with music. The progress is there, but to say that The Strokes have finally reached the potential that we all knew they could would be wrong. Still, "The New Abnormal" is an album full of maturity and confidence, and The Stroke's best release in nearly fifteen years.
3.5/5
Highlights:
"The Adults Are Talking"
"Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus"
"Bad Decisions"
"Not The Same Anymore"
"Ode to the Mets"
Not The Move:
Release Date: 4/10/20
Review Date: 4/10/20
