The Strokes - One Way Trigger | Elusive Little Comments

The Strokes are back! Yep, the band that’s managed to stay somewhat relevant and highly regarded despite their last couple of albums being iffy at best returns with One Way Trigger, a track which will definitely split fanbase in half. It’s literally sonic marmite.

First impressions of the track were not favourable. The synthesiser intro - which stays the same throughout - gives off this flamenco sound that could contend with supermarket or elevator music. It has no real purpose other than to completely alienate Strokes’ fans right away, and the falsetto from Julian Casablancas is equally as unexpected.

However on the third of fourth listens the synth riff began to grow on me and so did the falsetto, lowering the ridiculousness meter by quite a bit. While I wouldn’t want to hear Casablancas falsetto ever again, it could’ve sounded a lot worse, and I guess I should admire The Strokes for continuing to search for a new sound instead of giving up and returning to their indie rock roots.  

Honestly One Way Trigger isn’t that bad. Once the initial shock of the previously mentioned settles down, the track starts to become somewhat enjoyable, not Is This It enjoyable but that’s a whole different story. I would like to see The Strokes use more of a synthesiser-based sound for their next record, because with Angles being pretty decent we could see The Strokes produce something that might regain some of that early career credibility. Honestly One Way Trigger isn’t that bad.