The Strokes Make a Comeback

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Image Courtesy of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Flickr

Monica Itxy Quintanilla
Staff Writer

After a long and painful three-year hiatus, The Strokes are back with a new EP entitled Future Present Past. You might remember the grungy New York band from crucial teenage-year songs such as “Someday” and “Last Nite” released on its overwhelmingly successful debut studio album Is This It in 2001.

Yesterday morning, lead singer Julian Casablancas delivered a new track, “OBLIVIUS,” on his new monthly radio show on Sirius XM’s XMU station. The night before, the band teased fans by projecting a video on the sides of buildings in London and New York with the words “Future Present Past” appearing periodically as a man ran in place. The video clip was later shared on various social media platforms via Casablancas’ label, Cult Records, with absolutely no description.

The EP, which is now available to stream via Spotify, includes three entirely new tracks — “Drag Queen,” “OBLIVIUS,” and “Threat of Joy,” with an additional remix track of “OBLIVIUS” by drummer Fabrizio Moretti. The tracks evoke nostalgia to its previous albums, as the familiar, obscure and effortless vocals paired with layered guitars return to the stage. In 2013’s Comedown Machine, the band experimented with funky guitars and New Wave sounds that were different from its previous albums. These three new tracks take us back to the roots of The Strokes; the unique and characteristic sound that captured so many souls more than a decade ago.

The EP regurgitates recognizable melodies from 2006’s First Impressions Of Earth and 2003’s Room On Fire. Now, after a long break from its original sound, the songs feel both warm and fresh as the band reintroduces its origins to a crowd of old and new listeners.

Along with their EP, The Strokes released a nine-minute “Conversation with The Strokes” video and will be headlining the Governors Ball music festival next weekend. There’s also word of a pop-up shop appearing May 30 to June 5 in New York City.

With the release of these three teaser tracks, there’s no harm in hoping for the possibility of an entirely new album in the near future. Although the tracks remind us of the reasons we fell in love with The Strokes in the first place, there is nothing drastically memorable from the EP, and the hazy lyrics fail to provide any impressive lines. For now, Future Present Past (as if the title was deliberate) rekindles past admiration of The Strokes and instills anticipation for more to come.

Future Present Past is available to pre-order via Cult Records and will officially be out June 3.