Reality Awaits is a fascinating yet tortured delusion from The Strokes

The NYC indie rock band’s understanding of the present has been shaped and portrayed by the fusion of technology and music, from the introduction to the shapeshifting mellotron in the 2006 dejected political ballad “Ask Me Anything”, to the use of mournfully nostalgic, sports arena synths of the aimless 2020 track “At The Door”, to the addition of punishing autotune and buzzsaw guitars in 2026’s “Psycho Shit.” Tech became its own character in Strokes history, bending to the will of its composers but still rebelling against the pleasant, cool melodies of a rock tune. On this latest record, The Strokes have finally reached an emotional breaking point with the ailing world, and their music caves into the pressure. They are unforgiving: their protagonists are losers: out-of-touch billionaires fetishising the middle class (“Going Shopping”), loveless couch dwellers addicted to AI chatbots (“Liar’s Remorse”), spineless corporate drones (“Going To Babble On”), and violent war hawks (“The Fruits of Conquest”), all depleted of humanity and real feeling outside of destruction. The accompanying music is a shocking, unexpected carnival ride: wacky vocal effects, skittish drumlines, trembling b...