The Strokes - "Future Present Past" (Quick EP Review)

I've been a pretty big fan of most of The Strokes music since they dropped their debut album and "Last Night" jammed its way into music listeners hearts. Throughout their discography they've been up and down in quality here and there. The group's reunion has had a few mixed responses. I liked Angles quite a bit and thought it was better than Comedown Machine, but I've found almost all of their releases at least listenable and overall pretty good. The Future Present Past EP is the third post-reunion release from The Strokes and it comes three years after 2013s Comedown Machine. It is also only three new songs plus a remix of "OBLIVIUS".

I don't think The Strokes necessarily shake things up with their sound and haven't provided any of their best songs on this EP, but all three songs are pretty good. The three songs, which are supposedly representations of the EP title with each song representing future, present, and past, have some different sonic qualities. The experimentation in sound doesn't effect the flow much and there is enough binding them together to create a pretty smooth running EP.

I think the guitar work and vocals are especially highlighted on the EP. Julian Casablancas sounds great on everything presented here. I also like the overall drum sound. The way they are mixed and produced sounds very good. Fans might have been hoping for a little longer of a project after three years. I can understand that. Even with a short run time the songs do provide fans with what they ultimately want which is some quality new music. I end up thinking three good songs and a well done remix is probably a pretty good second option. Overall this is a nice surprise release and I'm enjoying it.