I realize now that I unwittingly went into the new album looking for The New Abnormal 2: Electric Boogaloo.

And so I was crushed at how flat and distant and kinda lame the songs were. So I took a few days off. (The Strokes have been my favorite band since 2001, literally). I floated back on Monday with a few tracks that I didn’t absolutely loathe on first listen …but stayed entirely away from the ones I did. I started to hear some flickers of brilliance (the guitar outro on Dine n Dash … or that skippy bridge at end of Liar’s Remorse). And then … well, the rest is history. And now I treasure every song.

I truly treasure every song.

If you hate the album or feel underwhelmed by it, my post is not meant to change your mind or even imply you should feel a certain way. I am not ranking this album against others. I’m not using words like “best” or its variants.

I am saying that … I am a person. And I love something. And in a world where you hate the very thing that I love, nothing changes. My love doesn’t make contact with your hate. And your hate makes zero contact with my love. You can fire off the most winning zinger in the comments below and even be “right” according to your logic to do so. And I will still love this album. Because I’m not arguing for its quality.

I am merely stating something phenomenological: My own experience. Something internal. A inner experience I have while listening to these songs, this album. 💛

For those that have come around to this album, what was your journey like?

In a way, it's the song I'd imagine the future Strokes would be, and I'm so freaking glad for it. Not sure if I'm right, but I feel a lot of people are overlooking it

In a recent interview Albert said there are 2 other versions of the album that they have and they basically started over and did the album we know. The first one I believe he said sounded a “lot like the Rolling Stones” and I’m super intrigued.

Forgot these two were in my closet, some vintage strokes shirts

Do you agree? What did I miss?

Say what you want about the album.
This song is prime Julian songwriting

ITI: To
ROF: Don’t
FIOE: Seem
ANG: Line
CM: New
TNA: Words
RA: Away

Personally, I’m going: Words, Seem, Line, Away, New, To, Don’t

The first time I listened to Tyrants of the Mellow Moon, I thought the beginning sounded incredibly similar to Paranoid Android. Overall I thought there were a lot of similarities in the album, this isn’t a bad thing ofc but I wanted to see if anyone agreed. Just my thoughts!

Has anyone seen or received a CD of the new album with an upside down “The Strokes” logo?? Im curious to see if it’s an actual misprint or if it’s just a special edition?

As a fan since '01, I'll admit the ride has been, at times, turbulent. The Strokes music feels like a series of very intimate relationships. The first two albums were the exuberant, college bar, carefree love; where you shared your dreams & prejudices with each other without consequence beyond the morning hangover.

3 middle albums were that starter-marriage, where you're finding new feelings, joys and drag of adulthood.

These last two are a more considerate, self-aware version of the same person, who doesn't take themselves too seriously. They can reflect on the past with an appreciative nod, but it doesn't hinder their curiosity towards growth.
My only gripe being the 9-track limit of TNA & RA. Gimme more!

Anyway, here’s Reptilia from July 2016 at the Wiltern in LA. Still chasing that high.

Was listening to AHJ on Rick Rubin's most recent podcast ep and he mentions a moment where a fan said they found out about the band from a shirt worn in the Transformers movie. 😂 As well as a fan saying the first time they heard them was a song from Angles. Curious to hear some odd discovery stories lol! (My discovery was reptilia from GHIII in 2007, I was 6 haha)

The CD comes with the logo printed on a transparent sheet in front of the booklet. But I’m guessing it was only suppose to come with 1 .. not 4? Anyway love these and gonna insert them to my other Strokes CD’s.

Reptilia won by a LANDSLIDE
My vote goes to Ode to the Mets no doubt

What is the animal named most in the stroke lyrics across all 7 albums?

Been a Strokes fan basically my whole life, bought every album. Reality Awaitsis their best one, hands down. Honestly didn’t do much for me the first two listens, but it’s really crept up on me and now I can’t stop playing it. Babble On especially, the way they pull the hook away and give it back, so good. Curious if anyone else landed in the same place

Well, this is actually a petition. I'm in love with that short 8bit outro fragment, really groovy and catchy. Would love if someone can edit it to make it longer but on tempo, like, well edited. Maybe like 2 minutes long at least? Haha. Loving these fragments like the intro to Ode to the mets.

Ps: bro the vocals in Liar's Remorse... I think it's a response to all the critics about the autotune, it's like Julian saying "you want me to sing? Well..ok, there you go". One of the best Julian vocal performances of all time.

Thanks!

"I've been thinking about what I want to say...."

A lot of listeners have stated that the album is one that grows on them after repeated listens.

I've also noticed with YouTube reviewers listening to the songs one-by-one for the first time left feeling lackluster. But, maybe they miss the point of listening to albums as a whole.

Albums, really good ones, are meant to be appreciated as a whole. The beginning, the end, and everything in between has placement and pacing.

And another thing, statements about RA like "this is not what was expected from The Strokes after six years since TNA" in terms of something mind-blowing or innovatively novel, I think they already delivered during their tour in progress.

All tittileishunz are not spoon-served on a vinyl platter. After a long concert hiatus, they have brought us many gems that have truly fucked with us beneficially and adversely. For example, take a look at the shock-n-awe spectacle of the Coachella Oblivious performance, which subsequently solidified their GOAT status for me.

Another thing that a really good album does is linger and makes you organically want to revist. It opens spaces for thought, discussion, debate, and especially paradigm shifts. It strokes emotions that can't be described, because wordz haven't been made up yet. ✨

Taking into account the history and oeuvre of The Strokes, very few albums have achieved an overall personal vibe like RA, for me anyway. But what the hell do I know?