The New Abnormal - The Strokes: Review
are a legendary New York rock band who were labelled the saviors or rock music when the first emerged with a classic debut record Is This It. Since then the band has released a number of critically acclaimed records and developed into one of the most successful and popular rock bands within the indie world.
Review By Lavender:
The New Abnormal was one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and the year before, and probably even the year before that. Records like Is This It, Room On Fire and Angles make for one of the best catalogs in modern rock music. Since the last Strokes record the band has dropped a decent EP, frontman Julian Casablancas dropped two great records with his side project The Voidzand the band released three singles in the lead up to this record. All three of which I enjoyed and two of which are among my favorite songs I've heard all year. So my expectations were high, but The New Abnormal comfortably lives up to it.
The records lead single was a real treat and one of my favorite singles of the year so far. At The Door is a beautiful track that displays perfectly what so much of this record does well. The track continues to ascend higher and higher with a stellar progression that continues to reach the song further and further into absolute bliss throughout its runtime. The song also has a beautiful key riff and some spectacular dramatic vocals from Julian which all come together to make a dreamy beautiful rock song that has been one of my favorite singles of the year. Bad Decisions was the second single and I enjoyed this one too. I think its the closest thing the record has to a banger with the soaring hook, slick bassline and catchy guitar riff. Not to mention the track has a great bridge that sounds right out of Is This It making for a very solid single. The final single was released just a few days before the record came out at it too is an excellent display of the records successes. Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus is a song I absolutely adore as Julian bounces effortlessly between his classic too cool vocals and his lustful emotion soaked performance on the hook. And we should talk about that hook because it is a beautiful ascending melody full of energy and youth and life that makes for one of the catchiest and best moments on the record.
The highlights don't stop there however, most of the record is highlights. The opening track The Adults Are Talking is a quieter and softer cut to kick the record off. The guitar work is slick and totally beautiful the track really succeeds with a more compelling intimacy which features a number of wonderful vocal styings from Julian. The songs works its way up to an exploding point and gets the album off to an incredibly strong start. Inversely the closing track Ode To The Mets is another beauty in its own right. The track has an anthemic almost cinematic progression with an impossible to ignore lead melody and a beautiful driving instrumental. Everything that makes the record so great can really be summed up in this track, which feels like something I could say about almost all these songs.
Selfless is another great track with some slick electronically tinged guitar work and pretty keys. I love the second half of the track when Julian hams up his vocals and the track gets totally soaked in his expressive drama. The song also has an explosive conclusion that I dig. Finally Not The Same Anymore is another slow burner that makes it all worthwhile once the song develops into one of the most dramatic and compelling songs on the record. As the swells of guitars and soaring vocals climb higher and higher the song becomes ethereal like so many others on the album and helps show off Julian's incredible range as a vocalist.
I don't have very many problems on the record and when I do they usually even come with silver linings. Eternal Summer is a track I do have to give a lot of credit to for seamlessly jumping between its most energetic and punchy moments to its most dramatic and ethereal with ease. The tracks instrumental is a vivid dream that stays excellent through almost all of its six minute runtime but i do have problems with some particular passages in the song. A lot of people really love Julian's falsetto and there are plenty of songs where I think its great but this isn't one of them. I will give him credit for his punchier vocal performances during the songs intercut passages, but this is the weakest his vocals sound on the record and the long spans of time in the track dominated by his falsetto singing just makes this song come up a little short for me. The second track I had some issues with is Why Are Sundays So Depressing which features some weird wiggly synths that just don't fit in with the rest of the track. But even glossing over them its a hazier track without a whole ton of structure behind its huge guitar riffs. The second half of the track is better than the first half but I still think this is the records weak link.
The New Abnormal lives up to the hype and is one of the best records I've heard in 2020 so far. With beautiful electric soundscapes and heavenly ascending instrumentals the album has a distinct sound in the bands discography and is a standout rock record in the early months of this year. Not only is it a wonderful return to form for the band but also a display of their talent and maturity. Frontman Julian Casablancas shows off extraordinary versatility in his lead vocals throughout the record and the band has more layers to their sound than ever before. The album is a triumph in just about every way and is yet another big release this year that has lived up to the hype. 9/10
