The Year of the Strokes

It’s been a very long break for fans of The Strokes – five years to be exact. Their last studio album, “First Impressions of Earth,” came out in early 2006.

This year, they are coming back.

It’s a long wait until March 22, when the album comes out, but at least we have a release date. At least we know there is actually an album coming. It really has been an agonizing five years, wondering if they would ever play as The Strokes again.

Very slowly, they have been returning to the music scene, giving out goodies one at a time. They released their first single, “Under Cover of Darkness,” for free on their website for 48 hours on Feb 9.

On Tuesday, the band premiered the video for “Under the Cover of Darkness.” It was like Christmas morning for me; I’m pretty sure I’ve already watched it about six times. It’s certainly a change from the last time we’ve seen them, mostly where haircuts are concerned. Albert Hammond Jr.’s signature mass of curls are gone in favor of a close-cut.

The video has a little surprise for the hardcore Strokes fans, such as myself; when singer Julian Casablancas sings the line, “…everybody’s been singing the same song for ten years,” he picks up his micrphone stand and throws it off camera. Look familiar? He did the same thing in the video for “Last Night.”

They’re going to be on Saturday Night Live this week. I’m going to drop whatever I’m doing, wherever I am, and watch it. Again, it’s been so long since they’ve been performing that it’s something I’m not missing. They’re also going to premiere the B-Side to “Under Cover of Darkness” as their second song, titled “Yours To Keep.”

They’re touring at some point, but it hasn’t been announced yet. It’s torture. To bring back the Christmas morning analogy, it’s like finding the biggest package under the tree is yours but you have to open it last.

I haven’t seen the Strokes live yet, and I think this is the perfect time to go. You never know how long their next hiatus might be.

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