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May 1, 2020The band’s bluntest and most contagious — yet experimental — work.
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Apr 14, 2020Although 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.
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Apr 13, 2020It’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.
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Apr 10, 2020The New Abnormal proves that when they put their minds to it, that old magic is still well within the Strokes’s grasp.
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Apr 10, 2020it'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.
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Apr 10, 2020Even 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.
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Apr 9, 2020The 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.
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Apr 9, 2020Insouciant, 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’.
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Apr 9, 2020Where 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.
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Apr 8, 2020The New Abnormal – a spookily prophetic title – is stacked with rolling, streetwise grooves, boldly graffitied onto the chipped paintwork of NYC past.
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Classic Rock MagazineApr 8, 2020The New Abnormal is less new big bang, more engrossing sizzle. [May 2020, p.76]
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MojoApr 6, 2020Disillusion 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]
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UncutApr 6, 2020On 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]
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Apr 6, 2020The New Abnormal cements their continued relevance when many had been written them off, and as ever they don’t seem to care either way.
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Apr 6, 2020Like 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.
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Apr 6, 2020Every 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.
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Apr 6, 2020Abnormal offers something even better, possibly, than reckless youth: rock stars finally old enough to truly miss those good old days — and wise enough now, too, to give us the soundtrack these strange new times deserve.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 459 out of 492
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Mixed: 17 out of 492
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Negative: 16 out of 492
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Apr 10, 2020
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Apr 10, 2020
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Apr 10, 2020