After their
homepage briefly broke the freaking Internet, The Strokes have offered up free streaming and downloading of their new single "Under Cover of Darkness". For the majority of their fans, this is the first glimpse of new material (a smattering of fans witnessed the band's reunion this past summer when they headlined Isle of Wight, Lollapalooza, and other festivals) since 2006's
First Impressions of Earth.
The Strokes, rock behemoths though they have become, are always a touchy subject among music lovers (at least in this fan's humble experience). Lucky enough to have
Is this It (2001) grace Rolling Stone's
Top 500 Albums of All Time at #367, their appeal has always been in question. Some people aren't looking for such a tightly packaged style of rock, others don't find the crooning (if you can call it that) of Julian Casablancas as mesmerizing as die-hard fans do. Not that I have the clout to declare something like this (hey, it's the Internet, so we can pretend!), but all The Strokes are is damn good Rock 'n' Roll.
No matter how you play it, "Under Cover of Darkness" is a well-crafted pop song in the style that unquestionably belongs to The Strokes. It's driven by slick guitar lines and a scarily precise percussion section (big-time kudos to bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti), not to mention some seriously well-done background vocals in the last 50 seconds of the track.
Listen, it might not be groundbreaking in new styles and it may sound just like The Strokes of old, but at this point there's no denying that this New York City quintet has some remarkable talent.
You, me, your mom, your roommate, and everyone else can stream/download the track for free of The Strokes website via the link...after the hop.
