It'll always be a tricky business writing a Strokes review. Is This It still to this day reaches the upper rungs of all-time-top-whatever lists, while fangirling over Julian Casablancas tends to border on hagiographic.
Probably a small blessing, then, that we approach this not as massive Strokes fans and know well enough that their last album, Angles, was a bit cack. But Comedown Machine heralds a much brighter, looser Strokes. The solid opener, Tap Out, glistens with jaunty licks and changes of pace, while All the Time is - if this is even possible - a potential stadium anthem downplayed to perfection.
By the time One Way Trigger and Welcome to Japan play out, it's more apparent that Strokes have bid a hearty 'sod off' to expectation and seem to be having much more fun in a genre they own, while adding a few updated touches. Slow Animals is peppy but light math-rock, while Happy Ending shines as if it's just that.
If there's a misstep here it's Partners in Crime, which certainly belongs to the Angles school of Strokes Nobody Wants. Comedown Machine isn't a masterpiece by any stretch, but certainly not as despondent as its title. Stream it here.