Op-Ed: My review on The Strokes’ album The New Abnormal

By Anastasia Zhelezova | Published by May 5, 2020

The Strokes’ most recent album The New Abnormal, produced by Rick Rubin, was released on April 10, 2020, and the title could not be more fitting of what life looks like today. With people required to stay home and self isolate from their loved ones during this strange and stressful time, music seems to be a common way to cope for many. 

As the saying goes, “music on, world off,” and for a moment maybe you forget. However, the reality still remains leaving us with no choice but to shift our focus and adapt to the new abnormal which is why the title of The Strokes’ sixth album couldn’t be more relevant. 

Although the songs are mostly written by the band’s lead singer Julian Casablancas before the pandemic, they seem to be quite suitable now more than ever. As we sit in quarantine away from our family and friends, we cannot help but feel nostalgic about the days where we could roam the streets freely and see one another when the time would allow. 

Nostalgia has been something of a topic for the band beginning with their lyrics and ending with their sound.

“When we was young, oh man, did we have fun,” Casablancas sang on Someday, a song from The Strokes’s album Is This It.

They would later release an album on Oct. 9, 2001, which was also a reflection of the times that people were living in. With New York City grieving, The Strokes seemed so symbolic and a huge part of the city’s charm that not listening to their music felt almost like a betrayal. While I was not there for that time period, I can only imagine it being as so.

The New Abnormal cannot compare to any other album that came out this spring. It was the best thing I’ve listened to so far. The band first played Bad Decisions in early February at the Whittemore Center Arena during a rally for Bernie Sanders in Durham, New Hampshire. The song sounds like a typical Strokes song given the familiar-sounding chorus from Last Nite, a single featured on Is this It.

Bad Decisions resembles Billy Idol’s Dancing with Myself which is another thing to note about the nostalgic vibe of the album and that there is a wide influence of sounds from the 1980s.

The Strokes’ music makes everything feel less chaotic and is possibly why it is so invigorating during a crisis and makes the unbearable feel bearable. As we begin to reflect on all of life’s negatives in a time like this, The Strokes make us feel as though we can survive it and rise above the chaos that surrounds us, making all our worries disappear into thin air. 

“The room is on fire as she’s fixing her hair” is a line from Reptilia, a track from Room on Fire. It acts as a metaphor for a chaotic moment, feeling not so chaotic if not acknowledged.

Similarly, The New Abnormal consists of songs that make you feel that way as well. At the Door, a personal favorite of mine is a very tense song that features an unusual robotic sound.  

On Selfless, Casablancas sings: “I’m not scared, Just don’t care, I’m not listening, you hear?” An overall idea is a form of disengagement which is a coping mechanism for some right now.

Avoiding the horrible COVID-19 news and the streets that once were busy and filled with locals, as well as tourists now, are sad and empty. Casablancas’s portrayal is a reflection of life and how terrifying it can sometimes be, yet choosing to take it less seriously can be quite pleasurable. Listening to this album makes feelings of distress almost impossible to recognize.

My second favorite song, Ode To The Mets, is the last one on the album and gives it the perfect finish. The music falls neatly into place as the instruments play simultaneously creating a perfect melody while the lyrics of nostalgia replace sadness with a sense of relief. 

As Casablancas sings in the last verse:

“Gone now are the old times

Forgotten, time to hold on the railing

The Rubik’s Cube isn’t solving for us

Old friends, long forgotten

The old ways at the bottom

Of the ocean now has swallowed

The only thing that’s left

Is us, so pardon

The silence that you’re hearing

Is turning into

A deafening, painful, shameful roar.”

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