★★★★
After a relatively long hiatus, The Strokes are back with their latest creation – a bold and punchy four-track EP.
Regardless of whether this a mere teaser of what’s to come, or the only thing we’re going to get, Future Present Past invites you on board a time machine deftly operated by the band’s frontman, Julian Casablancas.
The EP features three original tracks (the fourth is a take-it-or-leave-it remix) that each vaguely correspond with the three-word title. The opener, ‘Drag Queen’, doesn’t ostensibly resonate with the future, given that it seems to hark back to the gritty, dark days of Is This It. However, Casablancas’ anti-capitalist lyrics highlighting society’s perpetual obsession with money hit on an issue that will no doubt continue into the future. ‘Oblivious’ is a lighter, more upbeat track that showcases Casablancas’ soaring vocal range. Again, it sounds more like something out of 2004 than the present day, but who doesn’t love the timeless sound The Strokes have always been geniuses at recreating? And if ‘Threat Of Joy’ doesn’t remind you of the 2003 album Room On Fire, then God knows what will.
Although Future Present Past doesn’t really offer Strokes fans anything particularly new or groundbreaking, the band has once again reminded us that rock’n’roll is far from dead.
Future Present Past byThe Strokesis out now on Cult.
