The New Abnormal

it's potent proof that the Strokes can still surprise. Full of passion, commitment, and creativity, The New Abnormal marks the first time in a while that the Strokes have made truly exciting music.

Insouciant, effortless cool; shimmering, effervescent melodies that cut through the street-smart danger; the ability to sound vitally alive whilst simultaneously not giving a fuck: all the traits that underpin the band’s best songs are present and correct, from ‘Dancing With Myself’-aping recent single ‘Bad Decisions’, to the twinkling, yearning ‘Selfless’.

The band’s bluntest and most contagious — yet experimental — work.

The New Abnormal cements their continued relevance when many had been written them off, and as ever they don’t seem to care either way.

The New Abnormal proves that when they put their minds to it, that old magic is still well within the Strokes’s grasp.

The New Abnormal is the sort of comeback Comedown Machine should have been. The band seems happier and healthier together, while simultaneously pulling together their best set of songs in the past decade. Couple that with Rick Rubin’s cinematic production and you have the high point of the late-career Strokes records.

The New Abnormal – a spookily prophetic title – is stacked with rolling, streetwise grooves, boldly graffitied onto the chipped paintwork of NYC past.

The New Abnormal is less new big bang, more engrossing sizzle. [May 2020, p.76]

Disillusion and disappointment have become fuel for creation, not self-immolation; second-guessing has been replaced by first-hand emotion. ... For the first time in a while -- that The Strokes shouldn't be gearing up for goodbye. [May 2020, p.86]

Like its cover, the Jean-Michel Basquiat artwork ‘Bird On Money’, it’s spiky but quite stunning. This is a cool album, the kind you begrudgingly grow to love, even if it never cared about you.

Even with its inevitable blemishes, The New Abnormal is easily the freshest, most interesting album that The Strokes have released in more than a decade. While the band haven’t proven to be the single-handed savior that rock music always seems to be searching for, they have made the case for taking a slow-burn approach to collaboration and creativity.

Although some fans may be disappointed not to hear the same early aughts NYC sound, discerning listeners will find that consistency as well as hopefully appreciate a new direction for a band with much acclaim.

It’s not the early, edgy Strokes, but what they’ve grown up into. Maybe the Strokes won’t make new friends with this album, but old friends can get closer.

Where Strokes albums since 2006’s First Impressions of Earth have felt grudging and defensive in their theoretical approach to the band’s cultural and career position, this time out the mood is less constricted.

On several songs here Rubin helps peel back the years to reveal an energy and a passion that reminds you just how powerful was the band's initial proposition. [May 2020, p.30]

Every time The Strokes tap into their old power, they get distracted by a shiny but fruitless new direction. But not every risk here is a wash. ... Despite The New Abnormal’s surprises, it tends to resonate most when The Strokes don’t try to be something they’re not.

On their latest album, The New Abnormal, The Strokes have mirrored the career of Beck, offering a mimetic approximation of music they think people want, instead of music generated from their raw, inner demons or whatever fueled them on Is This It.

The New Abnormal remains a frustrating listen despite its gleam. Faster tempos would have helped.

The New Abnormal lacks the electronic edge of Angles, it has little of slapdash power pop of their debut, and it certainly doesn’t take as many risks as their third (much underrated) record First Impressions Of Earth. There are shades of the old power on Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus, the best song on the record – but don’t ask yourself how it compares to, say, Car Seat Headrest.

The New Abnormal is not a bad record, but it is a frustrating one, made by a band that feels pulled in a dozen different directions.

This is not an album that will make The Strokes new friends, but it might satisfy the faithful. Sometimes it is enough just to sound great.

Casablancas's lyrics are, as ever, largely and deliberately incomprehensible, but enough phrases slip intermittently into the foreground to convince you that they must mean something. [May 2020, p.98]

For all its faults, The New Abnormal might capture how the Strokes are feeling: not ready to fade out, not primed for a comeback. Right now, they’re just way too tired.