IF you loved The Strokes' seminal debut Is This It in 2001, the chances are you were seduced by the sense of urgency and youthful potential alive in the band's driving rhythms.
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When Julian Casablancas growled the chorus of Last Nite in his New York baritone it breathed renewed vigour in the garage rock scene. Rock felt exciting again.
Almost two decades later The Strokes have never again reached the heights of Is This It, despite a thrilling follow-up Room On Fire (2003) and the hit-and-miss First Impressions Of Earth (2006) and Angles (2011).
The New Abnormal is the New York five-piece's first album since the disappointing experimental soup of Comedown Machine (2013), and while older fans will appreciate the return to the duelling guitar riffs from Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr, the rhythm section is grossly under-utilised.
Whereas once the engine room of drummer Fabrizio Moretti and bassist Nikolai Fraiture provided The Strokes' trademark exuberance, on The New Abnormal they're often relegated to minor roles in Casablancas' plodding ballads.
One of the rare instances they're allowed off the leash is on the single Bad Decisions which opens with a guitar riff pinched from New Order's Ceremony, before appropriating the melody of Billy Idol's Dancing With Myself in the chorus.
So much so Idol and his co-writer Tony James received a song credit.
The other is the opener, The Adults Are Talking, a skittish slice of late-night post-punk.
Overall the tone of The New Abnormal is reflective and reserved, perhaps a result of Casablancas' divorce last year from his wife of 14 years, Juliet Joslin. It's also the first Strokes album since the one-time New York hipsters passed 40.
Vocally and lyrically it's Casablancas' finest effort. Selfless, seemingly a tribute to his ex-wife is beautiful, and the closing Not The Same Anymore and Ode To The Mets finally overcomes The Strokes' inability to deliver a ballad of substance.
The New Abnormal won't placate fans hankering for the past glories, but perhaps it's time to mature and move on, like The Strokes.
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Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
