Maps of Music

Comedown Machine (2013)

Where the lyrics of Comedown Machine take you, and where it was really made.

The Strokes made this album under a full media blackout: no TV appearances, interviews, photoshoots, live shows, or tours.

Key places

Mixing at Electric Lady Studios (2013)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Discogs credits list Electric Lady Studios as one of the studios where the album was mixed. The page does not give a recording date. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Comedown Machine: fifth studio album by American rock band The Strokes
• Released March 26, 2013 through RCA Records
• Released exactly two years after the previous album, Angles
• The band imposed a media blackout for the album: no TV appearances, interviews, photoshoots, live shows, or tours
• The cover artwork was designed to resemble an old RCA tape reel box

Background

• Promotion began with a free download of "One Way Trigger" on January 25, 2013, also available to stream on YouTube and SoundCloud
• Julian Casablancas posted a stylized lyric sheet for the song on his official website on January 30, 2013
• The lyric sheet was designed by longtime collaborator Warren Fu
• "All the Time" was released as a digital download on February 19, 2013
• "All the Time" came out as a 7-inch single on April 20, 2013, with "Fast Animals" as the B-side

Recording

• Credited engineers: Gus Oberg and Phil Joly
• Mixed by Gus Oberg
• Mastered by Dave Kutch
• Mixed at Electric Lady Studios and One Way Studios
• Mastered at The Mastering Palace

Cover

• Cover design based on an old RCA tape reel box

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1998.
• Lead vocalist and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Moretti made up the lineup, which has remained unchanged since formation.
• Casablancas, Valensi and Moretti began playing together as teenagers at Dwight School in Manhattan and formed an informal band in 1997.
• Fraiture, a childhood friend of Casablancas, joined later, and Hammond Jr. was the last member to join, at the end of 1998.
• Their first show as the Strokes was on September 14, 1999, at The Spiral.
• The Modern Age EP (2001), recorded with producer Gordon Raphael, sparked a bidding war among record labels and they eventually signed with RCA Records.

Members

• Julian Casablancas: lead vocals, keyboards, drums in studio.
• Nick Valensi: guitar, backing vocals, keyboards.
• Fabrizio Moretti: drums, percussion, keyboards.
• Nikolai Fraiture: bass, keyboards.
• Albert Hammond Jr.: guitar, backing vocals, keyboards.

Career

• Debut album Is This It (2001) received widespread critical acclaim and has appeared on numerous greatest-albums lists.
• Later albums include Room on Fire (2003), First Impressions of Earth (2005), Angles (2011), Comedown Machine (2013), and The New Abnormal (2020), which was produced by Rick Rubin and won Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards.
• Seventh album Reality Awaits was released on July 24, 2026.
• The band's sound is described as indie rock, garage rock revival and post-punk revival, and later incorporated new wave and synth-pop.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic weighted average of 68% from 44 reviews; generally favorable critical response
• Clash magazine's Kieran Mayall called it the band's most thought-provoking, strange and sexiest record yet
• BBC Music's James Skinner said the band's signature sounds are present but sit under an unexpectedly wide range of styles
• Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield questioned why the record was an official Strokes album rather than another Casablancas solo album
• The sound drew comparisons to 1980s acts including OMD, New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Police, and Devo
• NME placed it at number 41 on its "50 Best Albums of 2013" list

Records

• Entered the UK Albums Chart at number 10, the band's first album not to debut in the top three
• Gave the band their fifth consecutive top-ten appearance in the UK
• Reached number 10 in the US with an entry sales week of 41,000 copies
• The US first-week figure was the band's weakest since Is This It in 2001

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The cover artwork was designed to resemble an old RCA tape reel box.
• "One Way Trigger" was offered as a free download on January 25, 2013, before the album came out.
• Warren Fu designed the stylized lyric sheet that Casablancas posted for the song on January 30, 2013.
• NME placed the album at number 41 on its 50 Best Albums of 2013 list.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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