When they first started making music, the Strokes were hailed by early fans as the worthy torchbearers of the rock-and-roll movement. The rest of the world soon caught up and agreed: in 2021, the Strokes won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. That win for the The New Abnormal came fairly late in the careers of band members Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond Jr., Nikolai Fraiture, and Fabrizio Moretti—after all, they had had debuted with Is This It in 2001—but what an album it was! Containing tracks like “The Adults Are Talking” and “Ode to the Mets,” The New Abnormal had some of the best songs of the century so far. Now the band is back with a seventh album, Reality Awaits. Judging by the two singles released so far, the sound is different but intriguing. Let’s see what the rest holds. —Jeanne Malle