The Strokes – Comedown Machine
The Band: Julian Casablancas (lead vocals), Albert
Hammond Jr. (guitar), Nikolai Fraiture (bass), Fabrizio Moretti (drums), Nick Valensi (guitar)
So
today’s review sees the return of The Strokes and following a 5-year break
between their third and fourth albums, ‘First Impressions of Earth’ and
‘Angles’ respectively, this month sees the band release their latest album
‘Comedown Machine’ just a mere two years after ‘Angles’ release (previously
reviewed here including a more in-depth profile of the band). So much like the band’s latest quick and
efficient return, let’s dive straight into this review of the new record from
one of New York City’s finest.
Comedown
Machine
1. Tap
Out
2. All
the Time3. One Way Trigger
4. Welcome to Japan
5. 80’s Comedown Machine
6. 50/50
7. Slow Animals
8. Partners in Crime
9. Chances
10. Happy Endings
11. Call It Fate, Call It Karma
So
officially released next Monday, I recently discovered the band had made ‘Comedown
Machine’ available to listen early via stream on Pitch Forks website this week http://pitchfork.com/advance/48-comedown-machine/
and have now given it a few listens myself, so feel free to check it out online
before the album’s release next week.
Launching
with an initially rocky-squeal of guitar, before settling into a more calm but
funky rhythm opening track ‘Tap Out’ gets the album underway. As like with many tracks by The Strokes, the
guitars on the track have quite a light synth-feel to them, very much with an
80’s vibe here, while Julian’s vocals find him more high-pitched and falsetto-like
as opposed to his raw and gravelly-style vocals found on the earlier Strokes
records. The track features a funky,
maverick guitar solo two-thirds of the way through it and overall it’s a fair
opening track for the album and I think the rhythm of the track holds it
together quite well.
Next
up we have the first official Single of the album ‘All the Time’ and this is much
more traditional Strokes territory, with Julian’s familiar crooning vocals in
full swing, backed by electric-guitar strums before an altogether more rocky,
fast-paced chorus “You’re livin’ it up,
you’re livin’ it up, you’re livin’ too fast, you gotta pray for the best” that
sees the band build to their full-on Indie-rock sound. I can basically see why the band chose to
return with this as their first Single as it’s easy-listening and familiar to
the fans. However, it was third track ‘One
Way Trigger’ that was previously the first glimpse fans got of ‘Comedown
Machine’ as the track was previously made available to download online from the
band’s website before the Single ‘All the Time’. At the time this was made available I
initially really liked the up-tempo, carefree, jangly rhythm the track carries
while Julian’s vocals were also initially a bit of a shock to the system, again
disguising his voice here in a high-pitched falsetto particularly for the lines
over the chorus “Find a job, Find a
friend; Find a Home, Find a dog”.
The track features a really nice guitar-solo from Nick midway through it
and a lovely bridge, “You asked me to stay”,
before returning back to its own unique jangly rhythm and Julian’s vocals. While I noticed this track seemed to divide
fans opinion of it (particularly as this was the first track we had heard from
the record), I personally really liked it and still think it stands up well on
the record at this point.
Next
we have ‘Welcome to Japan’, a bit more of a slowed-down affair for the record
so far but with another funky melody at the heart of it, re-creating all the
glam of an 80’s disco. Yes! Julian’s vocals are back in much more familiar
territory here and this track sees somewhat of a duel of guitars between Albert
and Nick throughout. It’s a carefully
structured, well-built track with another really nice guitar solo midway
through it and the catchy chorus “Come on
and go get with me, I wanna see you Wednesday, Come on, come on, come over,
Take it off your shoulder”, while Albert’s guitar really picks away and
adds layers to the track through the verses.
It’s a good catchy, disco track and one I’d imagine that sounds even
better while on roller-skates! ‘80’s
Comedown Machine’, almost the title-track of the album, is a surprising ballad
for the band here. Initially opening
with slow percussion from Fab and featuring a guitar effect almost sounding
like an accordion running through it, it’s a slow burner of a track, featuring really
softly-spoken vocals this time around. A
very surreal type of track, it’s almost like listening to an old-school Strokes
track in slow-motion, particularly midway through it. Again this is another type of modern Strokes
track that I think will really polarise opinion among listeners.
‘50/50’
sees the band back in proper ‘let’s hit the road at 100mph’ mode, with dirty, jaggered
guitar-riffs demanding the listeners attention, with Julian really snarling
through an echo effect and Nick and Albert’s earlier guitar duel taken on to
another level here. The track is a
short, sharp burst of guitar angst and really all the better for it in my
opinion, with a great punk-rock drum solo from Fab in closing. ‘Slow Animals’ is up next and is another
track that uses the cunning trick of slowly-building itself up using a damn
funky rhythm and bass-line from Nikolai, with understated guitars cleverly
backing and layering the track before another full-on rocking chorus. The track pauses slightly in its second-half,
with synths used to create a spaced-out feeling on the track, as if we’re being
invaded by UFOs, before we resume our earlier funky rhythm but the kicker is
how the track as whole builds throughout that really makes it.
‘Partners
in Crime’ is another, up-lifting, upbeat track, this time with guitars working
hand-in-hand to create a quirky yet charming and delightful rhythm, as each
guitar riff ends with the note being held, and bent, before possibly the most instant
and catchy chorus of the album so far, again featuring a fantastic rhythm diced
with quirky guitar notes. This is a very
instant type of track and immediately put a smile on my face the first time I
heard it. I really hope this ends up as
a potential future single from the band!
Up next we have ‘Chances’ and this is probably the most ‘stripped-down’
track on the record so far, with shimmering guitars, understated synths,
distant vocals and chip-tune percussion.
This is a very experimental track by The Strokes and creates a sound
that I would probably expect from a closing-track on a Muse album in my
opinion, a comparison I never thought I would ever make to be honest!
Penultimate
track ‘Happy Endings’ is another track on the album, with a very retro-sounding
guitar feel to, it’s another instant, catchy type of track as Julian croons “Baby, show me where to go, Somethings I don’t
want to know, Baby, tell me if you’re sure, Out all the time” through the
tracks chorus. Closing track ‘Call It
Fate, Call It Karma’ is the most subtle track on the album, with a gentle
guitar riff and piano playfully nudging it along, and those now familiar, softly-sung,
dulcet tones from Julian on this record, this is probably the most surprising track
on the album overall but there just seemed to be something underlying in the
track itself that kept my attention to it throughout, I certainly never heard
the band record such a track like this but it’s a hauntingly, beautiful way to
close the album, almost a ‘Comedown’ as such.
So
overall I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard from ‘Comedown Machine’ so far. I won’t pull no punches in this conclusion of
the review; if you were hoping for a record by The Strokes that really
recaptures their edgy, raw, rock sound from early albums, the brilliant ‘Is
This It’ or ‘Room on Fire’, then I feel you may come away a little disappointed
here, as while there are patches of that traditional Strokes sound on here, as
a whole I feel this record goes much down the same path as ‘Angles’, another
record that sees the band experimenting much more with different guitar sounds
and rhythms than that of earlier Strokes records. I would probably have to say this is arguably
the most experimental Strokes album to-date and the band will always risk
splitting opinions with this approach but as I have said in the past that has
always been a fascination about the band for me; I really like the fact that
the record challenges and dares the listener into more listens before some of
the tracks actually ‘click’ and fall into place on repeated listens. The album as whole doesn’t blow me away but I
certainly have enjoyed listening to it so therefore I’m going award the album 7
‘One Way Triggers’ out of 10, as there is plenty going on with this album for
the listener to get into and definitely feels like more of ‘a grower’ than the
previously more instant ‘Is This It’. I’m just now keeping my fingers crossed that
the band will hopefully do a much long-awaited UK headline tour, as it’s been a
long time coming!
On
a Comedown
Flynny
Track
2 ‘All the Time’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJC8zeu3MHk
Track
3 ‘One Way Trigger’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itY62ToB5SE
Band
website:
http://www.thestrokes.com/ 
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