The Strokes – ‘All The Time’

It’s so classically Strokes-y it could have been cribbed from ‘Is This It’

The fifth Strokes album, ‘Comedown Machine’, landed in the NME office the other day, heralding the beginning of arguments about whether it’s a scintillating return to form

or another tossed-off contractual obligation (I’m leaning towards the former). One thing everyone can agree on, however, is that it’s so ’80s-sounding it conjures up images of Julian Casablancas in leg-warmers every note of the way. It makes ‘All The Time’ – the second song from the album, following the quite brilliantly A-ha-alike ‘One Way Trigger’ – something of a curveball. Not in the sense that it sees them exploring new dimensions in dubstep or whatnot, but because in comparison to the ’80s overload elsewhere, it’s so classically Strokes-y it could have been cribbed from ‘Is This It’, rather than sounding like something that should soundtrack a 1984 pool party in the garden of a Los Angeles villa. Is this a good thing? Most certainly. The Strokes on cruise control is still better than The Strokes parked up. There are even greater thrills to be had when the album comes out in March, including the funniest song the band have done since Julian started hanging out with American frat-boy comedians The Lonely Island. ‘All The Time’, and that leg-warmers image, will do nicely until then.

Jamie Fullerton


You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories