A review of ‘The New Abnormal’
However, with their latest release which came out on Monday, The New Abnormal sees the band return with a renewed strength and sense of focus.
American rock band The Strokes are one of those unfortunate bands who are burdened by a masterpiece debut album that looms over everything they produce afterwards.
The influence of their 2001 debut album, Is this It?, can be felt in almost every successful indie rock band from the early 2000s to the present day, from the the National to the Killers and Interpol.
However, since the five albums after their debut release, the New Yorkers were never capable of capturing the energy of their first album.
The albums that followed their debut are not bad, but feel more like three of four hits surrounded by filler tracks for the sake of releasing a full length album.
Each new release was accompanied by the inevitable question of, is it as good as Is This It?, and the answer, for the most part, is no.
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However, with their latest release which came out on Monday, The New Abnormal sees the band return with a renewed strength and sense of focus.
Just like in their debut album Strokes pays homage to ’80s post punk is pervasive through the whole album, especially on tracks like Bad Decisions and At the Door, which are filled with synthesisers and arpeggio guitars.
The Strokes still wear their post-punk influences fully on their sleeves, mainly Joy Division which made their first album so unique.
The album starts off with The Adults Are Talking which sounds like a track right off of their debut album with the slow picking guitar, but the added synths provide it with a much more contemporary feel, the band’s guitar playing is also brought to new heights.
Bad Decisions brings their ’80s fetish to new heights with a melody borrowed shamelessly from Modern English’s 1982 hit I Melt With You.
At the Door is probably the album’s heaviest track, with heavy synthesiser and lyrics about abuse and the desire to escape, a theme that many other songs also deal with.
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The New Abnormal continues the Strokes’ trademark cheerful, poppy sound, but with the underlining melancholy feeling, something they inherited, once again, from their biggest influence, Joy Division.
The Strokes have always had a tendency to write very relateable songs that reflect the ennui of everyday life, and this can especially be heard in the very straightforwardly named track Why are Sundays So Depressing?.
The Strokes stay true their debut album and everything that made it so great, but add new fresh ideas and sounds to expand on their initial concept of reviving ’80s post-punk.
The nine tracks feel focused and more thematically cohesive than previous releases, making The New Abnormal, their strongest release since their debut and is easily one of the best rock albums of the year.
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