The Strokes have had an interesting career, but one that has followed the path of many that came before. Their first few albums were so good that they have had to spend the subsequent years trying to live up to the hype.
That has caused them to tinker with their sound somewhat. Seemingly, the band doesn't care if it replicates their previous successes, and that's fair. The problem is that a new direction hasn't always resulted in high-end musical quality.
Their latest effort is 2026's Reality Awaits, one that has been received with mixed reviews. On the Strokes' most recent Saturday Night Live showing, the group played two songs from the record, "Lonely in the Future" and "Going Shopping." If one was expecting the band at its peak, the person would have been disappointed.
The Strokes disappoint on their latest Saturday Night Live appearance
Part of the problem with how the band makes music now is that vocalist Julian Casablancas uses Auto-Tune, which gives his voice a plastic sound, which would seem to be the antithesis of what the intent of the Strokes was when they started delivering music at the beginning of this century.
The sound isn't like giving up, but worse: not caring. Casablancas' approach feels like he can't really be bothered to try to emote organically, but wants to be a robot. The vocals feel fake because they are.
"Lonely in the Future" is a fine song otherwise, though one might wish that all the volume and bombast at the beginning would have continued throughout the rest of the tune. Still, everything but the vocals and the slight breakdown in the middle works, especially live.
"Going Shopping" is simpler and almost too trite for its own good. The tune sounds like the excellent Saturday Night Live Christmas sketch from 2000 with the song "I Wish It Was Christmas Today." The difference between that song and the Strokes' new song is that the SNL one was supposed to be somewhat humorous. The Strokes' one is funny only ironically.
The only saving grace for the second song is something that has nothing to do with the Strokes, or at least very little. Actor Walton Goggins was featured in the video for "Going Shopping" and makes an appearance on SNL, too. He struts around the stage and then plays the bongos with an energy that is infectious.
Too bad Goggins' kind of unrestrained joy couldn't roll over to the band. Will the Strokes ever reach the heights of their early 2000s heyday? Not likely.
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