The Strokes: Reality Awaits

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take from this record. Is this The Strokes slipping silently into middle age? Is this supposed to be an experiment, or just where we are now? Is auto-tune the new auto-tune? And what would T-Pain have to say about it? It’s not as if Julian Casablancas hasn’t put vocal effects on his voice on prior albums, but when he did it it felt like his own thing. Now it feels like he’s entered some sort of wormhole and rediscovered something from a blank space in our creative past that need not be dug up. A truly baffling choice that sits like a shroud over this whole album. I think perhaps production guru, Rick Rubin, either didn’t intercede enough, or just completely led the band astray. Based on his past approach, it could be either.

Would this be such a big deal if The Stokes hadn’t really made a career out of sounding cool? Somehow sounding both retro and modern in equal parts. A band that two bars in sounded only like themselves and nobody else. For good or for bad, but mostly for good. At least in my opinion. This one feels a bit like everyone involved hit the pipe before Rubin hit record. (Yes, I understand that’s not generally how records are recorded, but I’m just sayin’…) It doesn’t quite stray into The Doors ride-the-snake territory or anything, but on tracks like “Dine N’Dash,” which is actually a pretty cool song, there is some weirdo Brit talking over the tune that makes no logical sense in what is usually The Stokes’ tight, concise indie pop rock tunes. I don’t even mind the breakdowns and switches in the song’s narrative, but the production and unnessary adornments make what could have been a cool song feel like someone gave someone else bad advice. Again. Granted, it’s still better than like 99% of music coming out today, but you’re always going to judge your favorites in a harsher light.

Despite some wobbles, this is a Strokes record. “Lonely in the Future,” for instance, is without a doubt one of their songs. But with what sounds like a distorted organ and that godforsaken autotune. Why? Why! And coming out of the falsetto back into the chorus, on past albums they would have hit that hard and I would have fist-pumped and remembered why I love this band. But, honestly, fuck Rick Rubin. I loved The Cult’s Electric, but the dude just doesn’t push and pull in the right areas anymore. Or maybe never did. And it falls flatter than it should. And then just kind of ends in some nonsensical organ thing that feels like a cop out. Right into an autotune ballad, “Falling Out of Love,” which actually isn’t a bad song (just a little boring), but is made divisive by its production. Stay out of the way, man.

And, look, I know people are really split on the whole “Going Shopping” lead single. And it’s a little Grateful Dead for me, honestly, but it’s catchy as hell and has grown on me. There’s nothing wrong with upbeat. It does smack of something tongue-in-cheek, though, in a way that won’t hit for everyone. I get it. What is that accent in “Liar’s Remorse?” I’m not sure what this song is, frankly. It’s like a bunch of tunes on this album: it has some great elements and some interesting execution, but then then they just stick in something to muck it up — like ending the track with some nonsensical 8-bit video game music.

It’s funny, if “The Fruits of Conquest” were on the latest Spoon album, I’d be like Spoon is back! It would be the hardest hitting Spoon song in while. But because it’s The Strokes, I’m like this is pretty middling. Not bad at all, just not particularly memorable — and kind of reminiscent of Spoon. And continues Julian’s obsession with singing in some sort of accent that’s definitely not his. Overall, it’s a complex record that may or may not age well depending on which side of the fence you come down on. Honestly, though, I’m still on it. I suppose one advantage is that it’s only nine tracks, so the band couldn’t devolve and give into their worst instincts on some tossed-off closing tracks. Whatever the case, I still trust these guys to give us solid rock ‘n’ roll music on their own terms. I just hope their terms don’t become the snake eating its own tail.