The Strokes released Reality Awaits, their seventh album and first in six years, on July 24. Critics including The Guardian say Julian Casablancas fuses the crackpot strangeness and fondness for AutoTune of his other band the Voidz with the Strokes’ pop minimalism, producing a playful, often joyous record. The Guardian highlights songs such as Going to Babble On and Going Shopping and praises Nick Valensi’s guitar work, while faulting the formless closer Tyrants of the Mellow Moon as unwieldy. Other early reviews are mixed, with some outlets calling the album nimble and inspired and at least one critic giving it a 5.5/10 and calling parts of it inert. The release also continues Casablancas’s public feud with critic Anthony Fantano, with a diss line on the album quoting “I heard that 20 fucking years ago.” The band is promoting the album with listening parties and festival appearances this summer, including Outside Lands on August 8 and Just Like Heaven on August 22.
