The Strokes officially release their fifth album, Comedown Machine, next week but it’s currently streaming online if you’d like to give it an early listen. The album’s first single, “All the Time,” features your standard Strokes-strut and emphatic lyrics about “living too fast” and “never ask[ing] why.” They return to their older sound à la 2003’s Room on Fire, and that might not be such a bad thing.
They’ve released a music video to the song, a sort of “best of” compilation of performance, touring, and behind the scenes footage of the band from throughout their decade-plus long career. It’s odd to watch these old clips of a band that was once hailed as the next big thing and think about where they’re at now. Comedown Machine likely won’t be some sort of massive phenomenon of an album the way Is This It was but who’s really expecting that anyway? Let’s just appreciate the fact that The Stokes are back (still back, I suppose) and enjoy “All the Time” for what it is – a solid rock tune that delivers. You can’t complain about that.