Album Review

At this point in their career, The Strokes really don't have anything left to prove. More than two decades after Is This It helped kick-start a garage-rock revival, the band still knows exactly what makes them work: Julian Casablancas' unmistakable vocals, sharp guitars, great melodies, and songs that somehow sound both effortless and carefully put together.

Reality Awaits isn't an album that completely reinvents The Strokes, and it doesn't reach the heights of their best records, but there's plenty here to like. The band sounds comfortable without sounding like they're simply going through the motions. There are flashes of the scrappy, guitar-driven Strokes of the early 2000s, but the record also continues some of the more polished and experimental ideas they've explored later in their career.

Casablancas remains the centerpiece. His detached, sometimes half-mumbled delivery is as recognizable as ever, while Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi continue to show why they've always been one of rock's better guitar combinations. The best moments come when everything locks together and you're reminded just how good The Strokes can be at making a simple guitar song sound incredibly cool.

The biggest problem is consistency. There are songs that immediately stand out, but a few others don't leave much of an impression once they're over. It makes Reality Awaits feel more like a good Strokes album than a great one. Considering how strong their catalog already is, that's hardly a disaster.

Even when The Strokes aren't at their absolute best, they're still more interesting than most bands trying to do the same thing. Reality Awaits probably won't replace Is This It or Room on Fire as anyone's favorite Strokes record, but it's another solid addition to a career that has lasted far longer than many people probably expected when five skinny guys from New York showed up more than twenty years ago looking like they hadn't slept in a week.