an ode to the strokes

The Strokes recently just announced their 7th studio album to release on June 26th, titled Reality Awaits. Now this was bound to happen soon, their last album, The New Abnormal, came out in 2020, yet their name started to pop up as headlining festivals throughout this year, it was slowly hinting towards a new album release. Some of the festivals being Coachella (California), Bonnaroo (Tennessee), Minnesota Yacht Club (Minnesota), Summer Sonic (Japan), Shaky Knees (Georgia), and I have my fingers crossed for them to appear in Chicago's very own Riot Fest lineup this year, but that may just be wishful thinking. I personally have been an avid Strokes fan for years now, I got to see them open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and I truly yearn to see them live again.

All pictures from Spotify

Now something about the Strokes and my listening habits is every year, without fail, when the beginnings of Spring are in the air and the weather starts to warm up I solely listen to the Strokes. In the month of March they were my number 1 artist with 1313 minutes listened to, with my top 7 songs all being made by them. So that inspired my blog, I'm gonna go through their albums from most recent to oldest and talk about my favorite songs or anything else I deem to be of relevance.

released album cover (spotify)

Reality Awaits (2026)

This is their new album I mentioned at the beginning. But since it isn't released yet I was just gonna talk about the tracks. This album has 9 tracks, with only one currently released which is track number 6 "Going Shopping," and from the listen I can say I'm quite excited to see the rest. It is definitely distinctly the Strokes vibe, their seems to be a bit of autotune in it to give it more of an electronic feeling. It kinda feels subtly like a mixture of the albums The New Abnormal, Angles, and maybe a bit of Is this it. I hope if they don't end up coming to Chicago for a festival then they at least come while on tour (which is not announced).

Album cover

The New Abnormal (2020)

Now this is probably the album that gets the most traction for, or at least I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it was. Don't get me wrong, it's a great album, but the Strokes have so much more to offer outside of just this album, but their number one hit "The adults are talking" is on this album, and truthfully i don't even think it's top 5 on the album itself. Maybe that's because I'm just tired of it and it feels overplayed though, cause it is a good song overall. I would say my absolute favorite from this album, and definitely one of my favorite Strokes songs is "Ode to the Mets," (hint to the name of this blog. Some other great ones from this album are "Brooklyn bridge to Chorus" and "Not the same anymore." But truthfully looking at the track list it's so well put together that I think for me it may in fact just be a no skip album.

Album cover

Comedown Machine (2013)

I feel like this album is pretty underrated, I've always been a fan of it, but the more I listen the more I seem to like it. The very prominent RCA logo on the cover was the Strokes showing they completed their five album contract deal with RCA, which I always thought was kinda funny they decided to do that. I don't entirely have much to say about this album. The most popular song from it is "call it fate, call it karma," and I will say I was a big fan of this at one point in time. Now I would say my favorites circulate between "Chances" and "One way trigger." This is the only album from the Strokes I don't have a copy of in either my CD or vinyl collection and it is definitely one I desperately want to have.

album cover

Angles (2011)

This album felt different to me in comparison to the three albums that came out before it, it still definitely was clearly a Strokes album, but they totally toyed around and experimented with it more in my opinion. But I personally loved it. This album reminds me vividly of my freshman year of High School, and the song "Life is simple in the Moonlight," which is still currently one of my favorites reminds me of sitting in English specifically, I wrote a mini essay on it. I'll just say the Strokes as a whole reminds me of freshman year in high school but anytime a song from this album comes on I feel nostalgic without fail. Two other of my favorites from this album would have to be "Taken for a fool," and "Call me back."

album cover

First Impressions of Earth (2006)

Now hear me out, this album, absolute masterpiece and beautiful. Dare I say, it may in fact be my current favorite Strokes album, or definitely top 2 or 3. This 14 track masterpiece has been playing either through my headphones or on CD in my room for a good majority of my time. I feel like it just flows so perfectly together and theres such a mixture of the vibes in each song. That being said, my favorite, and maybe even my favorite Strokes song is "Razorblade." I can't really explain how that song makes me feel but I just love how perfectly the instrumentals intertwine with the lyrics. Some other ones I like are "Red light" and "Ize of the world," but honestly it's so difficult to decide what my favorites are cause I love the album as a whole. Despite it being a 14 track album I can confidently say it's a no skip album.

album cover

Room on Fire (2003)

I really don't have much to say about their sophomore album. It's a solid album, but honestly I think it's my least listened to album. That being said I can still say three favorites, which are "You talk way too much," "Meet me in the bathroom," and "The end has no end" (which may be my favorite from the album. I think this album is the least unique, within each album it's clear the Strokes are evolving and were figuring out their sound with experimenting. But this album just feels so similar to Is this it, it's kinda like their debut album was just so good they tried to copy and paste it. Still a good album overall, but it just lacks that small unique distinctness that each Strokes album seems to have.

album cover

Is This It (2001)

For a debut album, all I have to say is they really hit the nail on the head. Debut albums for a lot of bands or artists can tend to be... well just forgettable especially if they have a good amount of albums released. Not all the time don't get me wrong, but for a debut album to still be so prominent in the Strokes discography and being well-loved and appreciated is quite a feat, at least to me. I personally love this album and will say it's one of my favorites and more listened to ones, and not to be redundant, but I do think it's another no skip. Apple Music has it ranked in their top 100 albums of all time. One of my absolute favorite Strokes songs belongs to this album, "The Modern Age." Some other favorites are "Soma" and "Hard to explain." This album just holds a special place in my heart, and I don't think I could ever get sick of it.

Well that's all from me really, so go listen to the Strokes outside when it's nice out and I swear you'll know exactly what I mean by they remind me of the Spring if you were doubting me. This is also a shoutout to my brother, who is an avid Strokes fan, but I just wanna say I was listening to them way before him, and most definitely put him on whether he accepts it or not.

-AC