Okay, I've given it a couple more listens and it may not be as bad as I initially thought, but it still doesn't hold a candle to what the band was previously capable of.
I'm actually pretty surprised that people think this is particularly good - Julian's slurring his speech so much that he sounds drunk, the vocals are super muddled (and not in a good Is This It or Room on Fire kind of way), and the instrumentals aren't nearly as lean, limber, and interesting as the first two albums or the best songs (You Only Live Once, Machu Picchu) from the last two. I know people are aching for the Strokes to be "back", and this may have their "classic sound", but if you listen to it against anything from the first two albums you can tell how painfully forced and mediocre it really is.
I can't help but believe that everyone who thinks Local Business is anything more than mediocre are deluding themselves. If TA's previous album hadn't been as good as it was, Local Business would been seen as the incredibly uneven and scattershot collection of ditties and occasional insights that it is, rather than fodder for album of the year lists.
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