Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Never mind the appearance of normal, all that is a by-product, a consequence of the way our lives have been manipulated to the point of arrogance and over-confident pride; normal is just fitting in, the mask worn with conceit to hide the quirk and the reason that makes us individuals with a soul that dances to both its own tune, and in compassionate step around others.

So much has been made, especially in recent times of the use of normal, the commonplace, and yet to endeavour with all your vigour and might to be considered ordinary, that should be considered a waste of energy, of potential, for there is absolutely nothing ordinary about any of us, we all are beautiful in our ability to go against the grain, to be fabulously odd, and it is in this, The New Abnormal, that we should strive to be.

For seven years all has been quiet from The Strokes, as far as The Studio is concerned at least, however, in that pent-up feeling of artistic adventure and the freedom to experiment which wishes to be heard, The New Abnormal is the perfect response to those who argue that time spent out of the public eye is akin to being invisible, it is the rage and the delivered justice of being courageous, unflinching and overall primed with musical daring.

Produced by Rick Rubin, The New Abnormal is intense, in parts brash, but never cowardly, potent but refusing to rely on previous influence, and across tracks such as Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus, Eternal Summer, the superb observation of Why Are Sundays So Depressing, Ode To The Mets and the excellent At The Door, that new sound, expected perhaps, rich in its own declaration of intent, is one that comes flying out the traps and plunges its sizeable claws into all who open their hearts; the beast is polite, it understand that it has to be seen to ask permission, but it ravages with energy perfectly.

An exceptional return, after all what is time away but the chance to reflect, normal is old hat, The New Abnormal is where the pleasure lays.

The Strokes’ The New Abnormal is out now and available from Cult Records/Columbia.

Ian D. Hall