The Strokes mixed old and new sounds fir their fifth album, “Comedown Machine” which was released March 22, 2013.

The first song “Tap Out” is a pop electronic beat, but it’s by far one of the better songs off the album. But the rest of the album is just the same sound from their earlier albums. The first song released “All the Time” is loud and punchy, but it’s by no means interesting.

Frontman Julian Casablancas singing in falsetto is strained in “One Way Trigger” but surprisingly it works rater well, mainly because of the mix of rock pop sound. Casablancas displays a wider range and sounds the best on this track.

“Welcome to Japan” is probably the most fun song on the album. With its mix of rock, pop and electronic, it’s upbeat and the lyrics anything but forgettable. Favorite lyric? “We’ve got to get to work now/Sliding it off your shoulder/As we’re falling over”. The song is clever, and is the best on the album coming across as positively addictive.

The rest of the album is pretty basic and switches from hard on “Partners in Crime” to a softer “Chances”, which is probably the most romantic sounding ballad on the album.

The album is decent, but it’s not necessarily their best. If the band wanted to evolve, this was not the album that proved it. In any case, it’s worth a listen, just for the few addictive and impressive songs that tune out the boring ones.