Strokes’ lead singer Julian Casablancas was all of 3 years old when controversial New York street artist Jean-Michele Basquiat painted The Bird Of Money in 1981, the very piece of art work Casablancas & co. chose to grace the cover of their latest album The New Abnormal. One can only speculate as to the meaning behind The Strokes choice of cover art for their first record of new material since 2013’s Comedown Machine. A lot has happened in the seven years between albums, most importantly the formation of The Voidz, a new band put together by Casablancas as a vehicle for his solo pursuits while The Stokes lay dormant. Formed in 2013 The Voidz have released two stellar albums in four years.
The Strokes were all just barely in their 20’s when they first broke onto the New York stage revitalizing a then stagnate underground indie rock scene at the turn of the last century . In her book Meet Me In The Bathroom: Rebirth And Rock And Roll In New York City 2001-2011 (after the Strokes song of the same name from their 2003 sophomore album Room On Fire) author Lizzie Goodman describes The Strokes “as influential to their era as the Velvet Underground or the Ramones were to theirs.”
Is it possible then, a decade on, the now middle aged fortysomething members of the band see their role in the Strokes as a means to an end? A registered retirement savings plan? A day job? Case in point, the last Voidz album Virtue, while vastly superior in every way to The New Abnormal, barely made a dent in the Billboard Top 200 peaking at number 151 whereas the new Strokes album ENTERED the chart at number 8. Is it possible the once mighty Strokes are now simply content going through the motions resting on their laurels? If the mediocre less-than-inspiring formulaic music of their latest album is any indication the answer to the question appears to be a most emphatic yes. Yes indeed.
6.5/10
2020 Song Of The Day Club
Bi-Weekly Record Review 7/26