The Strokes
Is This It
»
The Strokes
Is This It
RCA, 2001
RiYL: Lou Reed, Television, Guided by Voices |
--Grandpa Simpson
Is this it? Sure, but maybe not the "it" you expect. A lot of people are talking about these guys in certain circles, and it's mostly deserved, if simply for the fact that they've made a really fun rock record as a debut. The Strokes' sound perfectly captures the feel of young life in a big city, and for starters they've delivered a full album's worth of unshy melodies as addictive as anything released this year.
Is This It doesn't particularly sound like it's going to change the face of music as we know it (not that it aspires to, but you can't tell that to the British press), yet rock played like this just feels good. The album has an energy reminiscent of the Rolling Stones' early years or Lou Reed at his most fiesty, a lot of people throw Television around as a reference point too, but I don't hear it so much except in both bands' ability to set an urban scene with deadpan lyrics and edgy guitars.
Comparisons aside, though, the Strokes do cultivate a sound that's enough theirs to make me wonder what their second and third albums will sound like. They sound like they work hard and care about rock and roll music, and there's a lot of talent in the quintet's blood. You could certainly make the point that a lot of Is This It follows a certain muse, or treads close to 'ripping off' the dirty rock of the old CBGB crowd, but there's a lot of dynamic on the album. The opening/title track is a slow-paced drunken rant with a surprisingly buoyant bass line, while next comes "The Modern Age," a full-out rocker complete with Casablancas' best Reed imitation, a sunny chorus and an incendiary guitar solo (a rarity on the album). "Last Nite" and "Someday" are up-front pop rock nuggets, while "Hard To Explain" recalls more the minimalism of Wire or a contemplative Guided By Voices, its metronomic rhythm engaging in just one, well-timed dramatic pause over the song's course. And gritty rockers "Trying Your Luck" and "Take It Or Leave It" make for an emphatic closing to the record.
The Strokes play with a detached vigor almost reminiscent of Slanted And Enchanted-era Pavement, just less purposefully obscure. The rhythm section is tight as hell and keeps everyone in line, the guitars are in your face, but distorted just enough to distinguish them from the overproduced shlock considered "mainstream" modern rock. And frontman Julian Casablancas oozes charisma, howling with glee and spinning tales of relationships gone sour. He repeatedly addresses the futility of understanding life while young enough to enjoy it, and and occasionally flirts with a brand of naive street poetry (see "Alone, Together," and its immortal pick-up line "life seems unreal, can we go back to your place?"). More often, it's just howling at the moon, but the kind that makes you want to howl along.
Part of what makes The Strokes so fashionable is that New York City has long been associated with rock and roll, but so very few rock bands have emerged from the Metropolis in many years, partially due to the difficulty of maintaining a "scene" in a town that ushers in countless national acts to its bars every night and partly because it's damn hard to be a struggling musician and pay $1300 rent every month. Yes, the five Strokes are all spawn of privileged families (Casablancas and guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. actually met at a boarding school in Switzerland), and we have to concede that might have something to do with them getting enough breaks to survive and make it to this point in their careers. However, you shouldn't sell them short on the basis of their trust funds and exotic names. The kids can play, and they're doin' it the right way.
Rock and roll has always opened its arms to youth with attitude, sneering and distorted guitars, leather jackets, etc., and the Strokes have dropped with the total package. Don't let their pretension turn you off. Sure, they could go the way of Oasis and never progress from this point, but for rock lovers, Is This It should prove irresistible. Oh, and if you're from the U.S., you must pick up the "Hard To Explain" single so you can have "New York City Cops," which was removed from the Stateside release after the Sept. 11 attacks.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.