How The Strokes used a media blackout to launch their fifth studio album
In short: In 2013, the American rock band The Strokes chose silence over stardom. Eschewing interviews, tours, and even photoshoots, they released Comedown Machine through a strategic period of total media blackout, forcing listeners to focus solely on the music.
When RCA Records released Comedown Machine on March 26, 2013, the band's promotional strategy was intentionally invisible. Rather than the typical cycle of television appearances and press junkets, The Strokes implemented a media blackout. This lack of traditional visibility extended to live shows and tours, leaving the music to speak for itself. The album's aesthetic even leaned into this sense of nostalgia, featuring cover artwork designed to mimic an old RCA tape reel box.
The rollout was marked by small, digital breadcrumbs. On January 25, 2013, the track "One Way Trigger" was released as a free download via the band's website and streamed on platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud. Shortly after, on January 30, frontman Julian Casablancas shared a stylized lyric sheet created by long-time collaborator Warren Fu. Later, the digital download for "All the Time" arrived on February 19, 2013, followed by a 7-inch single release on April 20, 2013, which included the B-side "Fast Animals."
Critical reception was largely positive, with the album earning the number 41 spot on NME's 50 Best Albums of 2013. While Clash magazine praised the record as their most "thought-provoking, strange and sexiest," critics like Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield debated its identity, questioning if it felt more like a solo Casablancas project. Despite the lack of promotion, the album reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 in the US, selling 41,000 copies in its entry week—a notable shift from their previous top-three debuts.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Comedown Machine
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