The Strokes : Reality Awaits

You remember the early 2000s boom of post-punk and new wave bands that came out of the druggy New York lower east side club scene? It was so big there was even a book written about it. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jonathan Fire Eater, DFA Records, Interpol; as well as bands like The White Stripes, The Killers, and TV On The Radio sort of brought back the magic of the mid-to-late 70s New York rock scene. What sprang forth was a whole new love/interest in the grimy world of underground rock coming out of the 90s’ super sheen, over-produced corporate “alternative”.

One of the biggest bands to come out of that scene were The Strokes, the Julian Casablancas-led five-piece that came roaring into focus with their debut Is This It and the MTV-pushed “Last Nite”. Their lo-fi sound, catchy riffs, and Casablancas’ bratty vocal delivery won over many(including me) and gave us rock and roll hopefuls something to believe in once again.

The band followed their debut up with what sounded like a facsimile of what came before, but maybe with a little tighter delivery. Room On Fire was Is This It, but with slightly better songwriting. Similar, but still enjoyable. Then came First Impressions of Earth, questions, and an eventual slide into disappointment.

Since the mid-2000s The Strokes have reemerged every couple years and have put out albums that sort of resemble their fiery, youthful selves. But mostly they’ve all felt like treading musical water. Something for Casablancas to do when not making Voidz records. Their latest is Reality Awaits. It’s a middling record that sits firmly in 3rd gear, powered by moroseness and autotune.

I’m sure this Strokes album is for someone. Maybe even lots of people. But for a few Strokes fans this one is not going to land very well. First of all, why autotune? A song like “Psycho S**t” would have hit a lot harder with humanistic vocals. It’s dour and moody, but vocally it feels robotic and weird. “Dine n Dash” opens great with a cool disco-ish post punk vibe, sounding like Seventeen Seconds-era Cure. A promising song. “Lonely In The Future” sounds like classic Strokes, but then autotune. Why?

I won’t keep griping on the autotune. There are some great, classic Strokes vibes musically here. “Going To Babble On”, “Going Shopping” and closer “Tyrants of the Mellow Moon” are all catchy musically and have that great tight rhythm section that I came to know and love from the early days. And the simple yet eloquent guitar work is there in spades, but why ruin it with autotune? Reality Awaits could have been a great comeback album, instead it’s just a great idea gone awry.