The Strokes

Though the Strokes have cultivated a cooler-than-cool reputation over the years, at least once on every album they reveal the melancholy underneath the facade. On Room on Fire, that moment was "The End Has No End"; on First Impressions of Earth, it was "Ize of the World." For the first time in their career, on The New Abnormal they stay in that emotional space for more than just a song or two, and the results are some of their most rewarding music.