The Strokes, an American indie rock band based in New York, recently made their long-awaited comeback — much to their fans’ dismay. On April 7, the band released a new single titled “Going Shopping” and announced their upcoming album “Reality Awaits.” Despite fans being starved for new content and this being their first musical appearance since their 2020 album, “The New Abnormal,” the single faced backlash. It seems the highly anticipated album will flop, possibly along with the band members’ careers.
Aside from “Going Shopping” being an underwhelming release and a disappointing overuse of autotune disguised as a song, The Strokes have had recent public controversy. In 2020, they vaguely discussed intra-band conflicts during an interview. In late 2025, the frontman Julian Casablancas admitted to no longer speaking to guitarist and bandmate Nick Valensi. It is nearly impossible for a band to stay together when two members refuse to speak with one another. It is clear their weak bond is bound to break soon, especially since Casablancas has revealed the band stays together for financial reasons.
Casablancas alone has been under scrutiny in recent years for a number of reasons. In 2024, he made a disgustingly tone-deaf Instagram post revealing he does not vote and believes both political parties are a “joke” and a “horrible lie.” This post received justified backlash from fans, especially since voting is the most important thing an American citizen can do.
Although not blatantly controversial, Casablancas’ behavior in recent years can be described as just weird. At 46, he is still being described as “boyish” in interviews where he has discussed conspiracy theories and artificial intelligence. Casablancas has made his support of AI use known through album covers of his other musical project, The Voidz. There is even speculation that the car featured in the teaser video of “Reality Awaits” was created with generative AI.
The albums that The Strokes have released up until now are phenomenal, and it is not surprising the band rose to popularity after their debut. However, with the obvious decline in production quality, it is unlikely they will remain at the top. A fan can only go so far when separating art from artist, and if Casablancas is what will define their audience’s loyalty — the band members will need to get a different job.
