The Strokes - Comedown Machine

The Strokes - Comedown Machine

The Strokes’ weirdest – and weakest – record to date.

At this point in their career, The Strokes really don’t have much to lose. After releasing two near-perfect, critically-acclaimed albums in quick succession, the New York quintet stumbled on their overlong third LP First Impressions Of Earth, and have since failed to reignite the music world’s faith in them. Taking a more experimental approach on 2011’s Angles yielded excellent and torpid results in equal measure, leaving many Strokes fans doubtful of the band’s future.

And now, with little warning and even less anticipation, fifth album Comedown Machine has hit the shelves. At this point nobody really gives a damn what direction they go from here, whether they continue their nerdy 80s aesthetic of late or go balls-to-the-wall crazy and do a dubstep folk album. The promising metallic guitar squall that opens first track “Tap Out” suggests a heavier, more abrasive direction, but it doesn’t last; no more than five seconds in, the band locks into yet another nerdy 80s groove à la “Macchu Picchu.” Sigh. Things are shaken up ever so slightly on this song by Julian Casablancas singing in falsetto for the first time, but this sonic addition is too slight to distinguish “Tap Out” from any song on Angles. That, and he sort of sounds like shit when he does it.

Across its 40-minute duration, Comedown Machine awkwardly switches its objective between trying to sound like classic, early-00s Strokes and a different band altogether, resulting in a diverse but utterly confused record. Lead single “All the Time” does an adequate job of recapturing that Room On Fire kind of effervescence, but is instantly succeeded by the corny “One Way Trigger,” an unintentionally hilarious attempt at ripping off A-ha’s “Take On Me.” Really, guys?

Not every new creative venture is deplorable though, to which the restrained funk of “Welcome To Japan,” the technicolour pulse of “80s Comedown Machine” and the vintage wireless crackle of “Call It Fate, Call It Karma” can attest. But even for these intermittent bursts of fresh air, Comedown Machine remains simply too flawed and inconsistent to truly satisfy. For the Strokes diehards out there, or those curious as to what the once-esteemed band sounds like in the present day, Comedown Machine is worth a listen. But only just.

Rating: 3/5

This article first appeared in Issue 6, 2013.
Posted 4:40pm Sunday 7th April 2013 by Basti Menkes.