Things are peachy keen in the first few minutes of the music video for “Bad Decisions,” the latest release from the Strokes ahead of their upcoming sixth album, The New Abnormal, the band’s first in seven years. They debuted the song during their performance at a Bernie Sanders rally last week in New Hampshire, where lead singer Julian Casablancas gave the presidential candidate a shout-out for being a “fellow native New Yorker.” “Bad Decisions” is decidedly more upbeat than the album’s synth-laden lead single, “At the Door,” taking melodic inspiration from Billy Idol’s classic hit “Dancing With Myself” (per Pitchfork, both Idol and Tony James are given writing credits).
The sepia-toned video for the new song is one long infomercial featuring the band members donning wide-lapel suits in various shades of gray and brown — for five dollars a month, “the hottest band” is just “one push away.” Surrounded by a group of rowdy children, the band sings about “making bad decisions.” It’s all very cute until the bridge, when literal sparks fly and the musicians begin to implode. The men become faceless, and a bald Casablancas serenades us from a bubbling water tank for the song’s final moments. It’s the kind of chaos we all needed from the kings of New York’s aughts-rock rebirth. With cover art by Jean-Michel Basquiat and production from Rick Rubin, it looks like we’ll be getting some real Big Apple energy from The New Abnormal, out April 10.