The Strokes – Going Shopping Review

The Strokes return to the studio after six years, presumably because Julian Casablancas has run out of road with The Voidz again. It’s a neat cycle. An Americanised Damon Albarn, just without charm and less grasp on what constitutes a musical success. When one project feels stale, enough time has passed to revisit the other success story. Pivoting between the two, Casablancas, the pendulum has decided now is the time to revive the Last Nite hitmakers. They made a splash with The New Abnormal, and the cultural read on that album between now and its release six years ago has cemented it as a much-loved piece of work. The same will (probably) happen for their upcoming album, Reality Awaits. Much like The New Abnormal, Reality Awaits is off to a slow start with the choice of single a hurdle needing to be vaulted. Going Shopping is hardly an announcement of The Strokes’ return. The band appear to be barely aware of what they’re doing here. Perhaps 2026 is the year we need to cut our ties with The Strokes.  

Between the rough autotune, an artistic choice that doesn’t pay off here, to the artificial intelligence used on the music video, it appears the Casablancas-fronted outfit is out of step with what fans, or even followers of the new wave and alternative rock genre, had been wanting. Often, an artist provides their best work when challenging the perception of what a listener wants. Not so for Going Shopping. It sounds as though Casablancas is still infatuated with the work he put together with Daft Punk and, in lieu of their retirement, is keen to do it all himself. What that means is distilling the sample power of the French duo into a voice modifier that brings on a robotic tone. It doesn’t work. Of course, it doesn’t. It’s not that autotune cannot be used in a creative manner, it’s just that The Strokes has not done so with Going Shopping. They’ve tried and failed to make a funky number.  

Still, credit to the band for trying. Instrumentally, it sounds like a welcome adaptation of all things The Strokes. A comment on the need to connect with the real world, maybe? Whatever reasoning there is for the artificial intelligence use and the overwhelming reliance on autotune as a critical tool of synthetic creativity, it falls flat because it’s still in use. You cannot criticise the conclusion if you used the tools you’re criticising to get there. The Strokes have wasted a catchy instrumental, one that has that cool, summery sound that’d be a striking addition to playlists set to impress friends at dinner parties, by throwing into the mix a Casablancas creative decision. Crucial to this is wanting the band to expand their repertoire, but not so wide that they lose their grasp on what makes The Strokes such a voice of change.  

Humanity wants justice, The Strokes suggested in an artificially generated video posted to their social media accounts. It’s one thing to call for righteous action, another entirely to be on the wrong side of it with posts exactly like that. The Strokes is not a have your cake and eat it band, but it certainly seems like the group wants to cut corners and still profile themselves as a progressive outfit. What they do with Going Shopping is take on the malaise of life in the big city, the humdrum appeal of the everyday moments as extraordinary encounters, or at least holding the promise of such an experience. No such luck for those who listen in, though. The Strokes appear to be at odds with not just their audience, but themselves, and who knows how much of an effect that’ll have on Reality Awaits.