Video: The Strokes, ‘The Adults Are Talking’

Haley Bosselman on December 2nd, 2020

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Just a week after their first-ever Grammy nomination, the Strokes have released the Roman Coppola-directed music video for “The Adults Are Talking,” from their new album “The New Abnormal.”

The recent LP brought the New Yorkers out of a seven-year hiatus, which was confirmed during a New Year’s Eve show, back when 2020 still overflowed with high expectations. Later in January, they also announced a spring show at the Forum, which, of course, was ultimately postponed.

Despite pandemic-induced setbacks, the Strokes have managed to have a decent year. They moved forward with an April release of the Rick Rubin-produced full-length and nabbed a spot on Saturday Night Live’s Halloween show. What’s more, the best rock album nomination marks the Recording Academy’s first honoring of the Strokes in a career that stretches two decades.

The video for their latest single is set in a future populated by superhuman androids and finds the band struggling in a baseball game against robot competitors. Frontman Julian Casablancas explains further in an Instagram post. “It’s what many strive for: being good at everything and having no emotion,” he wrote, referring to the slick, animatronic pitcher. “But the problem is then you don’t have the good things and we must realize it’s more fun to be human than to be a bad-ass calculator.”

The Strokes demonstrate such joy in the final moments of the game. Casablancas makes it to first base only after being hit by the ball while at bat, setting him up to eventually score their team’s only run. And though these droids pummel the Strokes, 56-1, they celebrate the fanfare of making a single run. In a minefield of defeat, small wins can feel like magnificent victories.

||| Watch: The video for “The Adults Are Talking”