The Strokes have unveiled their new track 'Going Shopping' at a San Francisco warm-up show

The Strokes have given their latest song 'Going Shopping' its first live airing, playing it during a warm-up gig at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco ahead of their upcoming Coachella appearance.

Earlier that same day, 100 randomly selected fans had received the track through the post on cassette, which you can stream a rip of here. When it came time to play it on stage, frontman Julian Casablancas addressed the audience: "I guess why not right? It's already out there. A new song."

Alongside the new material, the set featured a run through several of the band's best-known tracks, with 'Last Nite', 'Someday', 'New York City Cops' and 'Reptilia' all making appearances. Cuts from 'The New Abnormal' also featured, including 'Bad Decisions', 'Ode To The Mets' and 'The Adults Are Talking'.

On the same day as the gig, the reveal came in the form of a retro-styled photo of a car, accompanied by the tagline 'In The Flesh, It's Even Sexier', evoking an eighties magazine-advert aesthetic that the band have been leaning into across their recent visual rollout. A brief musical snippet was also included, though no full singles or tracklist details have been confirmed at this stage.

The announcement might be the first official word on new Strokes music, but it hasn't exactly come from nowhere. The band had been leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for months. Earlier visuals of a notepad and a cassette tape implied studio activity, while the band had clearly started their latest project rollout more recently, with a few surprise shows and mailing list signups.

Frontman Julian Casablancas said back in 2023 that a new album was still a long way off, but producer Rick Rubin — who helmed 'The New Abnormal' — later spoke about working with the group again, with the band reportedly settling in Costa Rica to write new material.

Over the weekend, The Strokes returned to the stage at The Warfield in San Francisco on 4th April, performing alongside Alex Cameron, though the setlist drew entirely from their existing catalogue. A packed schedule of live appearances now stretches through the rest of the year, taking in major festivals on both sides of the Pacific — including both weekends of Coachella, Bonnaroo, Summer Sonic in Japan, Outside Lands and Shaky Knees. Among other names playing alongside them across the circuit are Interpol, Geese and The xx.

Since their extended hiatus, the individual members have kept busy. Casablancas has been working with his side project The Voidz on new material, while guitarist Albert Hammond Jr released his solo album 'Melodies on Hiatus' in 2023.

The band's upcoming dates read:

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