By DEVON SHERIDAN
A & E EDITOR
In many ways, The Strokes were destined to grapple with the changing reality of conventional success. Born in the budding 21st century, a time when domestic album and gross ticket sales ceased being an acceptable fair grade of success, The Strokes were cornered early on. The really ambitious leftover ‘90s hype-machines labeled them as the prodigal sons of rock music. From the start, critics and fans alike gauged the Strokes’ music not simply by what they produced, but by what they could have or should have produced. With the release of a great second album in 2002 and a good third album in 2006, the spotlight inevitably turned on the boys behind the music. Mostly, people conjectured about the pressure of the early hype. Did it “get” to them? Unfortunately, in 2013 the Strokes’ success is measured as result of their previous sum. In the pantheon of modern musicianship, the Strokes sit in a special section reserved for musicians and bands whose music is measured against its own legacy as much as it is measured against outside competition.
The release of Comedown Machine, the Strokes’ fifth studio album, signals the Strokes most underwhelming product so far. That’s not necessarily the worst thing a diehard fan could hear, however: two years ago, a fifth album seemed about as legitimate as a classroom daydream. This time it seems that the result is not for lack of effort. The good news is the band is recording together again. In a physical sense, that is. While recording 2010’s Angles, lead singer Julian Casablancas e-mailed from the West Coast his vocal tracks to the band and the album’s producer back on the East Coast. Incidentally, the residual sound of Angles only sparingly makes its way onto Comedown Machine. The jumpy guitar and bass on the album’s opening track, ”Tap Out,” and the dribbling synth on the first single “One Way Trigger,” could easily pass as the follow-up track to “Machu Picchu,” the opening track on Angles.
Casablancas saturates Comedown Machine with his newly discovered and incidentally wimpy, falsetto. This has been the biggest change in the Strokes’ immediate sound: gone are the groveling shouts and indifferent low-register croons of Is This It and Room on Fire. Nowadays, Casablancas drifts towards falsettos and tenored-out whispers. “50/50” is the exception, in which Casablancas returns to old, sweetly lazy growls. Ironically, the next song, “Slow Animals,” is about as dainty as one could ever imagine from the guy who sang “Reptilia” and “Take It, Or Leave It.” Funny enough, the instrumentation on “50/50” sounds like a Ramones B-side rip-off, while the hook on “Slow Animals” is quite catchy.
Unlike Angles, Comedown Machine occasionally dips back into the sounds of the good old days. “All the Time” is probably the best song on the album: Casablancas’ vocals are in classic form, while guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. and bassist Nikolai Fraiture keep the rhythm steady, but head-bob worthy. “Partners in Crime” oozes Strokes’ signature lo-fi influence and could be one of the album’s best songs. Unfortunately, it is also one of the album’s most frustrating songs. Nik Valensi’s lead guitar sounds really out of place throughout the entire song and may or may not ruin a song that otherwise could become an instant Strokes classic. This is a shame considering the countless times in the past that Valensi turned a good song to great with his lead guitar handiwork (see: “Reptilia,” “12:51,” “The Modern Age”). The album ends on a weird note: a Parisian-style acoustic guitar line fades out as an exotic voice croons in the background. Clearly, the band and its producers cannot seem to quite locate the sound that we, or they, grew so fond of, but at least the gang is back to trying.