Strokes – The New Abnormal

Strokes – THE NEW ABNORMAL is the sixth studio album from one of New York City’s most consequential rock bands, arriving in 2020 after a seven-year gap that made its release one of the more anticipated records in recent indie rock memory.

The Strokes and Why THE NEW ABNORMAL Matters

The Strokes emerged from Lower Manhattan in the late 1990s and spent the early 2000s reshaping what guitar rock could sound like in the modern era. Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fab Moretti built a sound rooted in tight, interlocking guitar work, dry vocals and a studied cool that influenced an enormous number of bands that followed. Their return here, after the longest gap between studio albums in their career, carries real weight. This is not a band that moves quickly or carelessly.

Released April 10, 2020 through Cult and RCA Records, THE NEW ABNORMAL followed Comedown Machine by seven years, a stretch long enough that plenty of people had quietly written off the possibility of new material altogether. That it arrived at all felt significant. That it arrived as a cohesive, focused record felt more so. The album runs through the band’s familiar textures while showing a group comfortable enough to take their time and not chase anything.

Format and Catalog Details for Strokes – THE NEW ABNORMAL

This is the CD edition released on RCA Records, cataloged under 19439705882. For collectors who prefer physical media in the compact disc format, this is a clean and straightforward way to own the album as originally released. The RCA pressing carries the standard commercial release specs from the band’s label home at the time of issue. No bonus material or alternate configurations are noted for this edition, which keeps things simple for anyone adding it to a complete Strokes discography.

Who Should Pick This Up

If you are working through the Strokes catalog in physical form, THE NEW ABNORMAL is the piece that completes the run from Is This It through to their most recent studio statement. Seven years between records means this one occupies a specific and unrepeatable moment in the band’s arc. It is also worth noting that for a band so closely associated with vinyl culture and the early 2000s indie revival, owning the CD edition has its own logic, particularly for collectors who maintain format-complete runs or who want a reliable, durable copy for regular listening. This is the record that proved the Strokes could still show up on their own terms.