The Strokes - Classic or Duds?

1 album/fake debates in Brit-press on the future of RAWK&ROLL/"Man, if you don't like The Strokes you don't like rock, man"/disappointing sales/2030: remember these guys?

We'll see.

You can't really ask classic or dud before the debut album though, surely?!

Who — completely by bad luck and unlucky timing — your first posts somewhat reminded some of us of, hence the mean-ass whirlwind you inadvertently walked into, Nick. i.e. We thought you were someone else in new disguise and were goading him out of hiding. Our instant disgreements would have been a lot more polite and friendly (or anyway less sneery) had DP not been buggering abt so assiduously up till a week ago.

Unfortunately a talk-board this big and diverse tends to acquire a hate figure to unify it: he left, you arrived, and you Got Elected. I would like to propose you are hereby UNELECTED (DG? Robin? Cool it!) as Top Hate Figure, because you have no more deserved it than I have. (Esp. as your outburst at OBJECTIVITY vs SUBJECTIVITY wasn't a meeeeeeellion miles from my own feelings abt some of it: ie that it was a bit ponderous and up itself..., tho some of it was somewhat more sarcastic than first meets the eye)

Your degree was in Popular Culture and Cultural Studies, wan't it? (Sorry, I read it in Introduce Yourself and have now forgotten the exact wording.) So a. You surely have intellectual interests in common with lots of us. b. You're probably a bit bored with the more dreary or inadequate reaches of same (jeezus GOD fair enough). We seem at this moment to be having a mini-season of replication of grad-school discussion of Lit Theory. Which ius getting nowehere because it is too REPECKFUL of FAMOUS-NAME cliches, and BOUGHT-IN READYMADE MEMES. (I won't say names NOW, because I am preparing devasting hilarious war oh yes...) (Is it a meme if it's rubbish?)

I think in its scrappy wayward dilettante way this board in 11 months has contributed FAR more to CultStud than several of the bigwigs on your booklist for your postmodernism essay ever have or ever will. Seriously. Better ideas anyway. Not followed through: this is the internet and instant hedonism rules.

This is a sort of apology/friendly gesture/welcome-to-the-board-after-a-v.hairy-start type thing.

Now: LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Um, thanks. Yeah.

The same 13 year-olds who bought into Oasis all those years ago (myself included).

I wish I was still 13, I could run forever and I was wicked a football.

Anyone who starts a track the way The Strokes start NYC Cops deserves a medal, because it's just got verve and spunk to it, and that's ace.

But I'm genetically pre-disposed to anyone who sounds like the Velvets and The Stooges anywa, especially if they chuck in some glorious pop hooks and some suggestion of melancholy.

I actually don't like anyting that's remotely retro now because I really like music that appears to me to be more original/experimental but that doesn't matter in the world of pop. As long as they have a bit of charisma, they could be huge (even that might not matter- look at Travis?)

I'd much rather listen to The Strokes than Travis. Why? More up my street. Plus the second track on the debut EP has the best drum beat ever...

ehehehehehehe...

There are a million bands like the uninspiring Strokes, at least one of which is playing in a pub or bar near you tonight. If I was in a band as workaday as them, I'd be fucking *staggered* if we got two lines in the local freesheet.

Still, they're upper middle class and I understand daddy is a big cheese in the fashion industry. Probably explains a lot.

If you're going to focus on a New York rock group, go check out the Joyous Nu Order stylings of Interpol, or freaky-deaky Providence transplants like Les Savy Fav, or the posh new-wave poetry of My Favorite. And might I add that I'm terribly disappointed that the No- Depression types in the UK press STILL haven't picked up on the greatness that is Ida? (Or are you folks strictly looking at those folks that are only a few spiritual steps away from Nashville, like Laura Cantrell or Ryan Adams? They're all fine and good, mind you, but, for the luvva Loretta Lynn, open your bloody ears!)

And I think there's a definite Can-via-the-Fall garage rock thing happening with Clinic (especially on stuff like "The Return of Evil Bill").

Why see a band? Stay home with a video of Kurt Cobain’s belches, if that’s your speed. You like the band who remind you of the time that you once had when the world didn’t matter. Personally, I like a band who can play to 30 people and make it seem like 31. A band who realise that rock shows are mundane, pointless. A passing diversion. Capes don’t do it for me. Neither do hair-slides. You think a band’s going to win me over through the sheer brilliance of their invention or musicianship? Get real. The last time I saw someone original, I was being belted on the back by a midwife. “Thank you. If you cheer loud enough, we will not return.” Music is the great comforter, the pacifier. Here’s the reason I like angular NYC quintet Les Savy Fav. They don’t remind me of any of the above bands. No. They remind me of explosive, obstreperous Dutch insurrectionists The Ex. (Hah!) Also, songs like “Wake Up!” , ‘This Incentive” and “Titan” (from new album “The Cat And The Cobra”) know when to start and when to stop. Frankly, though, neither of those are reasons at all - however frantically Mr Harrison Haynes bangs on his drums, or Mr Seth Jabour labours to invent slightly different sounds on his battered guitar. No. Les Savy Fav charm all 30 of us tonight in the UK’s Smallest Venue Offical - and believe me, it really does feel like there are 31 present - because they try. An event isn’t an event unless the people there treat it as such. So the deceptively normal-looking singer Mr Tim Harrington goes on walkabout. He examines an array of different objects - lights, fans, beer glasses, an audience member’s hand, turntables, the front door, every audience member’s back, the ceiling - while sing/shouting. He jumps up. He jumps down. He’s polite, yet intense. He makes us feel privileged to be in Brighton, England.

Sorry, but I thought someone might be interested. I have no idea what these Strokes are you people seem so interested in. But I do know what "Diff'rent Strokes" are.

(Oh, yeah - the obvious gag. Har-de-har-har-har.)

Supposedly, at a show I attended, Mr. Harrington attempted to mount the face of an audience member. How the hell did I miss THAT?!? (Jerry - get that LSF bitch published somewhere, yo - they could use the press. And their latest release, actually, is the _Rome_ EP on Southern Records. New album coming soon, too!)

In the US, I doubt The Strokes would be able to sell water to dehydrated camels, no matter how good they are. Andy speaketh the truth - it's all about boobies (or, in Fred's case, boobs).

You want rock & melon-farmin' roll, you want some Ted Leo (who just so happens to have an album out on Lookout!, which seems to be quite the hot ticket nowadays, though I still need to get my own copy to judge for myself, but I liked Ted's 1st solo effort, along with Chisel's later efforts, so my endorsement for Ted is justified). (Thank you.)

Fuck the Strokes - name some other fresh-n-new rock bands, maaaaan.

I saw the end of Les Savy Fav when they opened for the Ex at the Knitting Factory. Eh.

But as a little bit of dressing on the salad of my musical intake, I find them very much acceptable.

Why does the most unassuming, faceless representative of a certain musical sect / region get the greatest amount of hoopla or press?

It's not bad, no, but, damn, Superchunk would go quadruple platinum with the amount of buzz these guys have garnered.

Again - an interesting group, from what I've heard, outside of the all the damn hype. But it's the DAMN HYPE (copyright) that's sabotaging the whole enterprise. Never mind the atavistic anti-NYC / hipster gag reflex.

There are moments of rock splendour: a few of the lyrics, the bass line of the title track; but these moments are far too fleeting and far too few. My first thought on listening to this album was “Cake meets Iggy Pop”. They have taken a back-to-basics approach, sounding as though they have recorded the album on an 8-track, with 3 tracks to spare: perhaps intentional, but definitely unimpressive all the same.

They desperately want to be sleazy, and to a slight degree they achieve this – for a flash in ‘Trying Your Luck’ (the best song on the album, in my opinion) the chorus pitches and lingers in memory for a moment – it is simple and effective, but then it dissipates and the climax is lost. The guitar almost swirls but ends up being lost in the appalling mix. Elsewhere on the album the vocals drone on, but here they are a hybrid of Top Cat and Frank Sinatra on smack.

‘NYC Cops’ is deservedly a single. It’s catchy, and the intro snares you, but there is nothing overwhelming about it, nothing that could change ones life as the press have suggested it will. The ultimate in lo-fi, The Strokes churn out 11 songs that would be hardly distinguishable from each other if is wasn’t for the pause between them.

Two thumbs down for this. Sorry.

"Hard To Explain" and a few other songs I've heard off their album are enjoyable enough. My only gripe is, with all that hype, surely they can finally afford to buy the singer a microphone that isn't broken? And the album's cover photo is a bit unnecessary.

Though I like the line: "Rolling in the ocean / trying to catch your eye" Yay!

They are my favourite NYC band. By far. The Strokes just can't compete.

Has anyone out there ever heard Iggy and the Stooges before?

I'm just curious.

i only just read this thread for the first time, and it surprises me how much the ilm massive was offended by the album. i think it's a very solid pop record. how did you fail to hear the hooks? you all sounded like you wanted to hate it.

i mean, they violated rock! their pastiche sucked the 'realness', 'grit' and 'meaning' out of rock, leaving an empty husk based on hairstyles and anodyne tunes... they are not the genuine article!

now, who would be offended by that?

Did that matter? I just ask for entertainment. Hell, right now I'm listening to the Misfits, now *that's* entertainment! Let's see Julian C. sing about skulls, astro zombies and teenagers from Mars.

Fuck it, they sound like the Strokes.

(or what Nate said at the end above)

(I can't believe there's no ranting from me on this thread. Where are the threads where I rant? Have they been moderated out of existence? Or had I decided to take a vow of silence about them by this point?)

Yeah, Albert Hammond Jr is just about as ugly as Andy Taylor, as well... I think Fab is the John Taylor of the band, due to the Drew Barrymore : Amanda DeCadenet analogy... Nick Rhodes clearly = the French one, cause all the French have arty pretentions... etc. etc. etc.

oh dear...

Am I alone in wanting the next Strokes record to be based entirely (lyrically) on that paragraph?

ned you nuts

maybe she took him to Chuckie Cheese; wasn't real specific.

What gambit? I have nearly all of her albums. ;-)

classic strokes song of the future!

still love the strokes mind.

and i'm not believing those j c quotes either.

(room on fire still sounds fantastic to me, btw)

seriously - to matt groening, cameron crowe, gilbert gottfried or whoever the fuck is editing the 'best music writing of 2004' anthology this paragraph:
Here's a low point though, because I never talk about the low points. I woke up hungover Sunday morning with no memory of Saturday night past 11 (what/who I did), and then I came close to screaming and crying because I thought I was in the room alone. It took me a full five minutes or so to realize that Julian was just in the shower and not in another bed somewhere with another girl(s). Took me only about 5 seconds after that to realize I was about to be sick, so I stumbled to the bathroom and managed to get to the toilet and threw up until I was puking bile. Jules standing there in the shower looking down at me and looking dead said "if only I could hide it as well as you do." Then for different reasons I came close to a breakdown and suddenly hated him more than I'd ever hated anything, but he said head up, baby, this shit isn't new to you anymore, you never do anything you don't intend to. So I got over it, as one does, then a smile and a kiss and a fuck and a song and back to normal.

is easily the best thing i've read on the strokes and if that fucking ilx thread on the strokes can make the cut (nevermind the usual awful 60% of whatever makes the cut) then this is a must.

And I'm not even just saying that because she's sure to track the link over and post on here. I'm saying it because I remember the shameful responses to my "electronic newsletter" during that three magical weeks I spent with Miki from Lush.

Pretend you're not fucking me, pretend you didn't fall in love with me, I DON'T CARE!! Make it look like you're settling down and going for the safe bet; pretend you feel better about youself. I'll still be around. I'll still let you bang the shit out of me every day of the week, then you can think about how fucked up you are and hate yourself for what you're doing! You're using me, I'm using you.

That's all I can say."

No, seriously, I don't find her attractive.

That last excerpt got me: I think I've had that relationship!

-- nabisco (--...), August 25th, 2004. (later)

To clarify I was talking about ILX

Also, fact-wise: are there any pictures on there that actually include her and any strokes? Sorta suspect.

She does? I'm being honest here, I don't sense that at all, and that's actually the big reason I don't see her as attractive much.

haven't you already used up all the "ehs" you can muster for them??

You didn't revive the thread to talk about the band. ;-) (I clicked because Spencer and I and others were yakking a bit on the tracks poll thread and I thought it might have something to do with that.)

Ned, I should have specified above that my question about her attractiveness was only skin deep. That's why I asked it, because I thought you were being a bit harsh about the way she looked. I don't think you can honestly say that if she posted a pic to an ILE "so what do you look like thread", and you didn't know who she was, that you wouldn't complement her.

The Morrissey/Casablancas duet serving as the b-side to The End Has No End?

(

(Am: "See, this is another variation on 'meh!' I KNOW I'M RIGHT!")

The Strokes Are Back In Action!

March 26, 2009 12:48 PM
For the first time in ages, the Strokes are back in New York, hard at work on album number four in their midtown studio. "We have three songs," Julian Casablancas tells the S.S., three weeks into the sessions. "I would say it's going great. We have a lot of work to do, though."

It's been more than three years since First Impressions of Earth, and what's helping the process is good vibes and honesty. "It feels like we're new," says Casablancas. "We didn't used to be honest — there would always be minifeuds over stupid shit. Now, if Nick (Valensi) and Fab (Moretti) or anyone are saying they like it fast or slow, we'll talk about it, as opposed to saying, 'Well, I never liked you sister.'"

Casablancas says that they've resisted jamming on old tunes; instead they're forging ahead. "Some of the new stuff has a Seventies vibe, like Thin Lizzy or Elvis Costello," he says. "But then some of it is bizarre music from the future that we're trying to tone down to sound catchy. So we're trapped between the future and the Seventies."

If there really are bands that are "so much more deserving of the media attention and critical accolades" than the Strokes, then apparently I need to listen to more rock bands.

I didn't need to learn that they've "advanced" by listening to Elvis Costello.

Is This It is one of the greatest albums ever made, and Room on Fire is one of the worst. First Impressions was a bit better, but I only listened to it maybe four times before moving on to other stuff. The way rock music is going I wouldn't surprised if album #4 turns out to be as wretched as that new Franz Ferdinand album. Strokeman mentioning "bizarre music from the future" is definitely not a good sign. :(

The first album is, indeed, pretty darn classic. That being said these guys have given off the impression of being more about style and attitude than about content, and now that the zeitgeist has moved on without them (and in fact uses them as a sort of cultural time capsule for the early part of this decade) their transition between albums and styles is that much harder - if that makes any sense.

future v catchy is the new artistic integrity v radio friendly

Is This It is one of the greatest albums ever made, and Room on Fire is one of the worst.

I can't tell the difference, except that ROF is slightly more assured.

future v catchy is the new artistic integrity v radio friendly

Taking Sides: The songs on Animal Collective that you actually enjoy listening to v.s. the inaccessible tracks that you are saddened to skip because you know this music is just too ahead of it's time for your reactionary ears.

Room On Fire>Is This It>>>>>First Impressions

i've never heard the third album in full, but 'juicebox' is my third fave single of theirs (after modern & explain)

Taking Sides: listening to Animal Collective v.s. shoveling bees down your dick v.s. listening to The Strokes.

Strokes >>> dick >>> AC

How big are the bees?

Won "Best Band" on the Isle of Wight, seven years running.

I really shouldn't have laffed.

I don't understand the Room on Fire hatred. I think it's more or less the equal of Is This It?, and Under Control is their best song. First Impressions on the other hand was very dreary, with the exception of Evening Sun.

First Impressions is too long, but take out some of the weaker songs and it's my favorite Strokes album. You Only Live Once, Electricityscape, and Red Light are all a+.
Also, Room on Fire is a really good second album: basically sounds like the debut, but with a few twists here and there.

ROF might suffer slightly because there's no 'hard to explain', but for me there's no perceivable drop-off to speak of. i liked them both a lot. i probably heard a total of 4 tracks off 1st impressions - one was great (you only live once?), a couple of other decent ones and then that abomination they released as the first single.

"12:51" is my favorite Strokes song, no question.

12:51 is just as catchy as anything off the debut.

I do agree that ROF is pretty close to the debut in terms of quality : "12:51" and "the end has no end" are great.
FIOE was awful to my hears (except "only live once").

^ agree, never gave FIOE much chance tho

true. me neither. but it sounded like such an awful mess (and that video where they went all hard rock. don't remember the title of the track).

"juicebox" - that was it. not very good at all.

no no, not "juicebox". one of the singles they released later. black/white. classic rock postures. horrible.

heart in cage when they were as big as buildings!
i like all the metal-y guitar leads, though.

oh yeah sorry, i was posting to myself re: first single "abomination"

FIOE needed to be like 3-5 songs shorter, with the chaff saved for julian's eventual solo album or something.

yeah, "heart in cage" !
I think it was the point when I realized they had jumped a whole heard of sharks...
(and I don't remember the song at all)

couldn't stand to listen to anything by them after juicebox

I liked the first two records though

Julian usually provides great quotes.

It's been more than three years since First Impressions of Earth, and what's helping the process is good vibes and honesty. "It feels like we're new," says Casablancas. "We didn't used to be honest -- there would always be minifeuds over stupid shit. Now, if Nick and Fab or anyone are saying they like it fast or slow, we'll talk about it, as opposed to saying, 'Well, I never liked you sister.'"

first two records and the first track on the third are A+, and the rest of the third album is like B-.

first two records and the first track on the third are A+, and the rest of the third album is like B-.

― 69, Thursday, April 2, 2009 11:58 AM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark

wow, this is so otm

never heard the 3rd but yeah the first 2 are awesome - dont really get how anyone can like the 1st and not the 2nd? 12:51 is a summer jam for all time

We could go and get 40s
Fuck goin' to that party
Oh really, your folks are away now?
Alright, let's go, you convinced me.

i was definitely on some 2>1 shit for a while after the initial thrill of overplaying IS THIS IT wore off, but im coming back around. title track, modern age, someday, LAST NITE, nyc cops -- these songs are just so so so good. the only thing i dont get is why british people love HARD TO EXPLAIN so much. definitely one of the two or three worst songs on the rec...

like every brit review of (and ilx post about) hard to explain spent so much time praising the ROBOTIC DRUMS OF FAB MORETTI, which i think just sound super-awkward and choppy

i stan for this band so hard and i'd like to say 69 otm

high-five dogg

ya like Interpol they're first album is better

Leif.

I don't see how anyone familiar with Jonathan Fire*Eater could canonize Is This It?. It's a decent record, but it's neither life-affirming nor great.

I'm starting to think we're being linked to by a Jonathan Fire*Eater album, containing all three people who are familiar with them in 2009.

The Strokes themselves have admitted their massive debt to JF*E.

I think the initial UK gaga explosion was from people who never heard JF*E, and even if it is misguided, the gaga train can't be block on its trip across the Atlantic ocean since it is powered by that grossly invincible NME fuel. That's how we ended up where we are unfortunately.

I like JFE but their kinda slow-ass compared to the Strokes

they're, rather.

and that doesn't mean better-worse per se, but it's not like the Strokes were a photocopy

They were called Jonathan Fire*Eater, they got what they deserved

Also I never heard a fun JFE song, were there any?

these little monkeys and when prince was a kid probably the funnest jfe songs.

new member!
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/music/strokes/tommyhilfiger/16.jpg

I don't get why peeps upthread are comparing them to Jonathan Fire*Eater (they likely doomed their whole career with the band name alone) but while we're at it I'll give my 5 cents and say the 'tremble under boom lights' ep is the only thing even worth listening by those guys.

But then, 'Is this it' is the only album even worth listening by the Strokes. I like to pretend that 'Little Joy' solo project was their following album before they disbanded. Hope they prove me wrong next time.

Some of you must spend 98% of your day walking around in an uncontrollable rage and I feel very sorry for you.

Whoa, really wrong thread.

uncontrollable rage can cause strokes

Why are there other bands called the Strokes or JF*E that I'm not aware of?

Because I think they're fine but you definitely wont see me throwing my panties their way.

I just heard New York City Cops for the first time in a while, with it's lol metarock intro. God I hate this fucking band.

fun to listen to "Is This It" and pretend it was a really "experimental" Matthew Sweet album.

new song is kinda puzzling, possibly in a good way

reminds me of The Chipmunks doing A-Ha
http://pitchfork.com/news/49301-listen-the-strokes-new-song-one-way-trigger/

possibly in a good way

If by good you mean "it doesn't compel me to end my own life" then, yeah.

Dreadful

good to hear the strokes still suck. gives life a satisfying sense of order.

what's incredible is that these guys are still young enough to be the same age as most 2013 buzzband groups

That first album still stands up.

That was really, really, really terrible, redeemed only by the hilarious comments on the Soundcloud. I don't begrudge stylistic changes by bands I like, but for god's sake that was like MGMT for deaf people.

reminds me of that 'diff'rent strokes' britisher covers thing a while ago

back when mash-ups were a thing this would have spawned an "take on me" hybrid within 6 hours

This is growing on me

Room on Fire is secretly better than the first album

Good God that is fucking ATROCIOUS.

Not sure if anyone will care but the new album is available to stream here.

http://pitchfork.com/advance/48-comedown-machine/

I've been listening to it, but I didn't know which thread to revive.

It's remarkably okay, but I guess anything they recorded would be considered an improvement on Angles.

I'm over half way through and it sounds like a mixed bag but there are some really good moments.

When Angles came out I really liked it and defended it on one of the Strokes threads but listening to it again recently I didn't enjoy it that much at all. There were probably three or four songs that were decent.

Okay, Partners in Crime is like the best thing they've done since Room on Fire.

they should just keep making that one song from their first two albums over and over i mean why not

I reckon it'll be a grower like Angles was. When I first heard that album, it was all very "WTF?" to me but I grew to like it. Not quite as good as Is This It? or First Impressions Of Earth, but a good solid album all the same.

Room on Fire is my favourite these days. Is This It is a great album but I just overplayed it so much back in the day that I just don't play it that much anymore. First Impressions is a lot better than people say but it need need a lot of trimming, it would be a solid 10 track album.

New one sounds a lot more interesting than Angles. As I said I went from loving that album to really not rating it all. Machu Picchu, Under Cover of Darkness, Taken for a Fool and Gratisfaction are the only keepers.

"What kind of asshole drives a Lotus?" made me lol and was a great rhyme

surprised to be digging this! weird, seems so far that the 2 songs they released prior were the worst songs

Yeah the Lotus line is great.

This was the least excited I've ever been for one of their albums but I'm pleasantly surprised. I actually really liked All The Time, it's just a really simple song that always seems to gets stuck in my head. It does rip off it's chorus from All Mod Cons by The Jam though.

Room on Fire is my favourite these days. Is This It is a great album but I just overplayed it so much back in the day

I don't listen to them anymore but, yes, this.

Can't imagine ever actively listening to them

officially nearly loving this record

i felt sort of indifferent to it on the first two listens but on the third listen somehow the melodies appeared and they're all great

I need to give it another shot, on first listen it was very eh

Best one since Rooms on Fire undoubtedly. Maybe the best one period, because not every song is identical.

so, brmc vs the strokes for cover art shoot out ..
who wins ..

I'm not a Strokes partisan, though, so ymmv.

Yeah I have been playing this a lot, it's just really fun and a lot of the songs are quite addictive. Partners in Crime should have been the first single really. Easily their best since Room on Fire.

this is really growing on me

it's funny, albert hammond has quietly turned into this peculiar virtuoso guitar player, at first i was like damn this is kind of a synth album but the more i listen i think it's just hammond using shitloads of guitar effects (almost like some kinda elliot eason of the cars meets tom morello type thing)

so I've been listening to this a bit lately and it's surprisingly good (except for 2 or 3 horrible, horrible songs, including the 2nd single).
many nice melodies and hooks, good production that's both basic/DIY and 80s rock FM.
I'm not sure it adds anything but I enjoy it, especially with the spring mood at the moment.

I need to give this another go

Close to thinking this recent one is their best album actually, along with the second one. Julian should get rid of the others asap and do his own thing, letting them have any say in writing songs really seems like it was a mistake

Funny how the narrative means nobody really cares, I guess rock and roll can get saved another day

the (very good) JC track on the latest DP could have easily been on this album, actually.

Exactly!

call it fate call it karma from the new album is one of the best things theyve done. reminds me a bit of vincent gallos music (in a good way).

Yeah that song is fantastic, great way to end the album. Chances and Partners in Crime are my other two favourites on the album.

yeah, I really like it too. the lounge/bossa smooth feeling...

This album is totally slept on... I actually think it might be their best. And that Julian should jettison the band asap

an album from casablancas following the same direction as "karma" would be nice.

It's what I've always wanted! I just want him to be a lounge singer, always

suit&tie-up, julian !

As long as it's like, a really bad suit

that said, adam green did the same thing (lounge, 60s), more or less, didn't he ?

yeah but he's Adam Green

ahah.

hahaha a lot of the personality of this record comes from the band, i think

anyway yeah this is pretty much tied with room on fire for their best at this point. to think i kinda hated it at first!

I was just thinking it was funny seeing a lot of people attribute the Daft Punk song featuring Julian to the Strokes, when in reality he played (and you'd have to assume wrote) the guitar part on that. I've always assumed he was primarily responsible for all the bands best moments and signature sound; the album which was trailed as having more writing involvement from the rest of the band is easily their worst

Maybe Albert too but ehnh

I think julian and the band have always said openly that he did most/all of the creative work.

I seem to recall reading a lot of articles around the new albums release about how that was a bad thing but uhhhhhh all evidence points otherwise

truth is though that this particular set of dudes plays really well together

as long as they know who's in charge

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/tony-danza.jpg

that said, I think it was Julian who was fed up with doing everything and the guys relying on him.

i honestly don't know if this new record was made in the old mold of casablancas writing everything

I suppose it was the same dynamic of the previous album were the guys would work on the tracks and julian would send his vocals by fedex.

i like the new album but the band doesnt sound 'tight' like they used to (maybe thats also just to do with the songs and them not wanting to sound like they did but even so, they dont sound all that 'connected' which i miss, the guitars in particular)

Glad to see this album has its fans. It's easily my third favourite after the first two. I wish they'd kept the three good songs on Angles and put them on here instead

From the sounds of it the band worked together more on this album than they did on Angles but now the album has kind of tanked as they have not promoted it one bit. No interviews, no gigs and so far they've only released one single that had a montage video probably made with none of them knowing. Partners in Crime sounds like the hit to me but I kind of think it's too late, the public have moved on.

i guess i haven't listened to this album until tonight -- it got mixed reviews and i was only ever sort of a fan of this band. but this is actually very great and much better than angles. 50 50 is my jam right now.

i disagree with the pitchfork review that claims that this album "smacks of effort" whereas their other stuff is more casual, tossed off, and cool. the arrangements here are pretty thoughtful, but the overall vibe is really chill. julian's singing is much more anguished on their first two albums than it is here. the only "deeply uncool" thing about it, really, is that RCA logo on the cover

man, i guess people really are done talking about comedown machine.

i'm not! it is totally their second best record

"the arrangements here are pretty thoughtful" otm

do you think their best is is this it? or room on fire? i'm torn on that question

also "call it fate or karma" is amazing.

it's still room on fire but man the second half of this record

its their third best record, but thats kinda faint praise considering how highly i rate the first two

Oh yeah I still like this. I'd rank it behind the first two albums but it's a big improvement over the last album. It's a shame no one bought it and the campaign seems like it's over. Partners in Crime, Chances, Welcome to Japan and Call it Fate are the highlights for me.

Room on Fire is still my favourite overall.

http://vevo.ly/o0K2Oe

Love the Daft Punk nod in the bridge.

Hmm, not sure why that link doesn't go through.
http://radio.com/2016/05/26/the-strokes-oblivious/

comedown machine is their best album and this is as good as anything on it imo

listened to his radio show this morning, it was neat. new song is cool. he had this burned out just shot up and smoked a million cigarettes affect. after he played C.R.E.A.M. he was like "some people like to peg me into one genre....but i like to go all over the spectrum."

i agree that comedown machine is their best but i'm not sure oblivius is quite as good, it doesn't have that lightness?

i don't like drag queen though, it feels like the voidz album but not in a good way

yeah "drag queen" is kinda wacky

i think i really love the voidz album now

felt like if i kept listening to it i would inevitably fall in love with it but never dedicated the time

it's really something! i have 40 hours a week at least in front a computer so i got the time

Listening to Comedown Machine reminds me it's pretty good.
Actually, thinking about their output, I think they only released one bad album : First Impressions (still it has one of their best songs on it !).
The first 2 are great. The 2 latest are good.

I'd agree that they've only made one bad album, but I'd go with Angles. I tired of that one very quickly. The three singles are the only keepers.

if julio did nothing but release eleven-minute songs called 'human sadness' i might quite like him

Dud.

Destroy all of it.

Classic.

Great drumming.

*julian, lol

ahah. julio would be a cooler name for him actually !

There's apparently an oral history, when they could have just used our old threads instead.

And having scanned the thing, all these people going "No really, that first album is a classic!" now sound as desperate as people did back then when they were trying to pretend it was going to save music.

Is This It really is a perfect album though. I really don't care how many people agree.

The first two albums are classics.

I would happy erase their master tapes.

the oral history comes from this http://fabersocial.co.uk/2017/03/22/meet-me-in-the-bathroom/

Joining the ranks of classics like Please Kill Me, Our Band Could Be Your Life, and Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, Meet Me in the Bathroom is the definitive account of an iconic era in rock-and-roll.

"An iconic era where NYC musicians once again thought they were they only thing that mattered."

It was a silly scene for sure and I think the excerpt acknowledges that, the fact that these guys really didn't sell a whole lot of records. Doesn't detract from how great the debut was though (and yeah, Room on Fire was very strong as well).

saw some excerpts here it reads like the most delicious parody ever, but then it gets kind of sad.

still a damn fine band there for a minute though

weird how them turning down a Heineken ad is considered "dumb", i mean smart move i'd say.

weird time to release a book about the 2000s rock revival, since that scene has virtually no lasting significance, at least not right now

Like, the bands profiled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, another book about a burst-and-boom scene, mattered even after their commercial window closed. Much harder to make that argument about most of the 2000s bands

If nothing else the excerpt proves that Ryan Adams is without a doubt, a total ding-dong

sorta interested in the claims of them being an amazing live band -- were they really that good? Casablancas always struck me as a pretty uninspiring frontman, and the rest of 'em seem dull as well. maybe i just haven't seen the right clips.

I saw them once in a very small room right when the first album came out. They were fine. Def could have been three out of four on a wknd night in Mpls.

"An iconic era where NYC musicians once again thought they were they only thing that mattered."

lol Ned otm

One reason I hoped I would live to see 2017 is that I thought people would finally be done talking about The Strokes by now.

Nah, nostalgia cycle at work. Makes sense. If everyone's been muttering about a nu-metal revival for the past couple of years, this might as well follow. (In that respect, Ja Rule returning to public attention does too.)

If nothing else the excerpt proves that Ryan Adams is without a doubt, a total ding-dong

On this we can all agree.

lol yeah, this part is great
When he shows you a song, he doesn’t stop for hours. You’re like, “Oh, that reminds me of a song I wrote.” And you play a G chord and he’s like, “I know what you’re talking about,” and he grabs the guitar back. There’s no way to play music with him. It’s the Ryan show, always.

I mean, that whole Ryan Adams/John Mayer douche crew thing. Imagine being stuck in THAT room.

"You two have inspired me to form a band consisting of nothing but evil industrial noises and anti-heterosexual lyrics."

YOUR BODY IS A DEATHTRAP/I'LL USE MY TONGS*

* I don't know any Ryan Adams songs, completely by choice, so I can't parody them as effectively

Ryan Adams (musician): One night I was hanging with the Strokes guys and Ryan [Gentles, the band’s manager]. We were really stoned because we were basically always smoking pot.

Ryan Adams: I didn’t do drugs socially, and I don’t remember doing drugs with Albert ever

i listened to the ryan adams maron episode and man, he is irritating.

all of these people seem like dumbbells

I saw the Strokes around 2006 at a *Heineken Sponsored Event* in NYC hosted by Paul Shaffer. All around great time, not sad or weird at all.

So that means you like The Strokes, Mr.Sinkah? :)
― Omar, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 01:00 (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nevah heard a note, Omah!! Doubtless they are toss.
― mark s, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 01:00 (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So wise, wonder if he ever heard them.

that whole era of fashion spread version of junkie '70s rock is pretty dull. i liked the strokes' debut well enough, but in the same way i liked Poison's debut in '86. in other words, they're no Def Leppard.

It's a pretty good excerpt, mostly for the way everyone involved seems to know that things didn't go the way they were supposed to. You could do the same thing about Franz Ferdinand I bet - and people would be talking about how Pete Doherty was much better at being a real rock star - just this band that all of a sudden got amazingly big, and then nobody really knew what to do, and then they disappeared. The idea of either Strokes or Franz Ferdinand doing a 'London Calling'... Or even just a '13' or an 'In Utero'. Or, you know, a 'Be Here Now', a big crazy god awful boondoggle. Somehow it seems a completely ridiculous idea.

I think bands like the Strokes and the Cars who don't really 'evolve' and basically kept making the same album over and over again are fine, idk why anyone would particularly want them to make a 13 or In Utero

For all the speculating that article does, the most obvious answer to "why didn't the Strokes stay popular" is that thier other albums didn't have any hits

Like, it wouldn't have mattered if this or that follow-up album was too similar to or too different from the previous albums, if any of those albums had had a solid hit on them

i loved the first Strokes album so much. still dig it out from time to time.

nothing else from that scene really caught my ear. i liked The Rapture (early 20s in punk clubs dancing to "House of Jealous Lovers") and some DFA stuff but that's about it. LCD bores me to tears and i imagine they will take up the most page space in this book.

I think bands like the Strokes and the Cars who don't really 'evolve' and basically kept making the same album over and over again are fine, idk why anyone would particularly want them to make a 13 or In Utero

The Cars changed a lot between albums 2 and 3. (And Franz Ferdinand's third album, Tonight, was a big shift, too, and their best work IMO.)

did the strokes ever do a big ballad kinda thing? it'd probably be terrible, but i can see them having a hit with a slow jam.

The whole neo-garage thing got squeezed down into a compartment big enough for one star, and that was Jack White...someone whose celebrity outweighed the chart success the White Stripes ever had.

So much of this smacked of, you know, you get the press behind these bands, and there's major label muscle too, but you see there's this new thing called conglomerate radio that finally taken hold, and all that other stuff doesn't amount to a hill of beans because none of these bands sell adspace like, I dunno, Godsmack or somebody.

Panorama doesn't really sound all that different from the first two albums imo

did the strokes ever do a big ballad kinda thing? it'd probably be terrible, but i can see them having a hit with a slow jam.

yeah there was one on the second record that i think i liked. i feel like they may have done a couple of slow numbers here and there but were def not single material

Casablancas made the big weird mess of an album the others in the band didn't want to make with Tyranny a few years ago.

So much of this smacked of,

interesting word choice

I like how everyone except maybe Greenwald bemoans how the Strokes destroyed their own chances of being great when anyone who heard those two albums heard nothing but minor band with the dregs of major label money behind it. They were like Lone Justice or something.

and as usual the Vulture headliners still believe in last-great-rock-band cliches.

I started falling asleep before the end of that excerpt, not sure what kind of torture an entire book would be.

I've never even heard of the band they describe as following the Strokes - Longwave?

Goodman follows the meteoric rise of the artists that revolutionised the cultural landscape and made Brooklyn the hipster capital of cool—including The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, and Vampire Weekend.

full disclosure: i'm not a new yorker, never been to brooklyn

but something about crediting these folks with making brooklyn 'the hipster capital of cool' seems... off to me? am i wrong?

Ryan Adams: That’s so sad, because Albert and I were friends. If anything, I really felt like I had an eye on him in a way that they never did. I was around and we actually spent time together. He would show me his songs. It was like, “No one ever listens to my music, but do you want to hear it?” I would be like, “Fuck yeah!” I loved him so deeply. I would never ever have given him a bag of heroin. I remember being incredibly worried about him, even after I continued to do speedballs.

boy ryan adams does not come across well in this article does he

http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2017/05/10/strokes/8-2.nocrop.w1024.h2147483647.jpg

nice canadian tuxedo ryan

something about crediting these folks with making brooklyn 'the hipster capital of cool' seems... off to me? am i wrong?

i am pretty sure they all lived in manhattan. at least that's mostly where they hung out, did gigs etc

that oral history is a delightful hate-read - thank you itnernet!

and lol at not a single word about the actual music

http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2017/05/10/strokes/8-2.nocrop.w1024.h2147483647.jpg

nice canadian tuxedo ryan

what's this, the the Blue Jean Committee?

ugh why didn't the Strokes discredit Heineken forever

is that jack white, beck, a guy from the strokes and ryan adams (+ 2 women, one of which seems to be beck's gf/wife) ?

one of those women is amanda de cadenet, who i'd totally forgotten was peripherally involved in this scene

hum. ok, I didn't who she was but after checking, it is her. she was like 10y older than he strokes guy (which she married apparently).

You could do the same thing about Franz Ferdinand I bet

Don't think FF belong in the same discussion at all. They seem like smart dudes who have their shit together. And they've put out some of their finest music in just the last year or 3.

also a highly respected british broadcaster xp

They seem like smart dudes who have their shit together.

also alex kapranos was 53 when ff started having hits, so they were better prepared for it

and I don't think you can compare the media storm/hype the strokes got with FF's.
actually has there been another new rock band with such a hype/success since the strokes ?

actually, I suppose the White Stripes, were much bigger, right after...

The rock press isn't set up anymore, financially or otherwise, to create such hype. Besides, clickbait rules demand celebrity journalism.

actually has there been another new rock band with such a hype/success since the strokes

maroon 5 iirc

are there a rock band anymore or are they Adam & the Levines?

they're hard as fuck and as real as they come, 100% bad-boy rock and roll attitude 4eva

https://www.doyouyoga.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/adam-levine-yoga.jpg

I've never even heard of the band they describe as following the Strokes - Longwave?

His timeline is off; I was a fan of Longwave and their first album predated the Strokes' by a year or so. I saw them a bunch around then and liked the album quite a bit but I never associated them with the scene around the Strokes -- I haven't listened to the album in years but I remember the influences being more like shoegaze/dreampop/mid-late '80s UK guitar bands. They did get picked up by RCA after the Strokes but I didn't care for much they put out after. Regardless they're a weird example as even among my show-going friends I did't know anyone who listened to them, and if anything their sound on the RCA albums (in hazy memory) was even further from what the Strokes and others were doing.

re: making brooklyn 'the hipster capital of cool' like Tracer Hand says I associated most of those bands with (and saw them primarily in) Manhattan. Generally speaking though I don't think it's a stretch to say that various music scenes played a large part in Brooklyn's developing reputation.

ahah. I don't think I know any maroon5 song except "this love"...
I have no idea how they are so famous !

talent will always win through

obviously I don't know them enough but doesn't Adam Levine have a Sting thing going ? He seems to follow the same kind of career path...

actually has there been another new rock band with such a hype/success since the strokes ?

― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 2:42 PM (forty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Arcade Fire's first album? Bright Eyes? The Shins?

that whole era of fashion spread version of junkie '70s rock is pretty dull.

This is otm and the reason the idea of an oral history of the scene also seems so boring. "Please Kill Me" is partly great because so much of the actual music that came out of that scene was actually great, but also because for better and worse a lot of the behavior in it is really spectacular in its decadence and depravity. Lots and lots of people died! Lots of people were legit crazy. "Ryan Adams got me into heroin for a while" is not interesting or even particularly sad.

pretty funny tho

first time as tragedy, second time as comedy iirc

True enough. I just don't think I need a whole book of it.

I've heard a rumour that one of FF is apparently a massive alky, for what it's worth

i met bob from ff in a pub once just ahead of the release of the sparks collab so i can only assume it must be him

The Strokes and that TV show Vinyl are essentially the same thing in the end. Reference 70s NYC rock scene stuff stiltedly, wonder why nobody gave a shit after initial hype, pretend they were too pure for this world.

it was ridiculous to ever pin the entire hopes of a genre of music on a band that was so stylistically reductive, but that make Is This It any less of a masterpiece of songwriting, production, and dynamics. what they did sounded easy but clearly it's not or more albums of that ilk would be that good.

I would say the thing that makes Is This It less than a masterpiece of songwriting, production, and dynamics is how incredibly boring it is.

The Strokes and that TV show Vinyl are essentially the same thing in the end. Reference 70s NYC rock scene stuff stiltedly, wonder why nobody gave a shit after initial hype, pretend they were too pure for this world.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 11:52 AM (forty-one minutes ago)

yeah but the spirit of rock 'n' roll!

I think they had really good songs on the first and second album and i dug their kinda robotic take on garage rock, nice guitar lines, overall that real cars-type efficient new wave thing

i think the records stand up pretty well now that the hype is gone

yeah, I get the "reference 70s NYC rock scene stuff stiltedly" complaint, but the stiltedness is what made them great!

honestly, what NYC rock scene stuff do ppl feel they sound a lot like? early Blondie maybe musically a bit? The Ramones I guess in a way but they are so influential it's almost like saying a rock band is influenced by Chuck Berry.... Like they def don't remind me of Television, Dead Boys, Patti Smith, Heartbreakers, Dictators, NY Dolls, Voidoids, Talking Heads

or is this just they dressed like it?

the stiltedness is what made them great

Oh, you're one of those "it's so bad it's good!" people. I didn't know there were any of you left!

Like they def don't remind me of Television, Dead Boys, Patti Smith, Heartbreakers, Dictators, NY Dolls, Voidoids, Talking Heads

No, no they don't.

'the stiltedness is what made them great'

Agreed. With Hard to Explain as the finest example.

they probably don't use deodorant and stink of BO

People arguing for stiltedness as a positive are reminding me that at the time (hell, probably back then on this thread) I said they'd be much better off with a drum machine. I wish to revise my judgment: they would have been better off replacing all the bandmembers with presets.

In hindsight, the new wave inspiration was obvious. It always sounded mechanic, computerized, even when it was done in gritty seventies style and before they learned how to make the guitars sounds as keyboards.

And yeah, at their best they sounded like human presets.

to that point, they def sounded modern, there's a way a lot of bands now approach drumming and mixing and drum sounds that betrays they grew up in a post-dance/hip hop drum machine era, they had this weird mid-range-y snap to the production that didn't sound like a 70s record at all to me. and also not 90s lo-fi like guided by voices either, it had a lo-fi feel but was also very polished and "pro"

i think the bassist is really good actually, he had nice little melodic touches

They are the first rock band my 17 year old seems to deeply love. She's listened to the first two records a ton in the last year, has started playing guitar, and is now analyzing all sorts of pop trying to figure out what makes it work. But it was the two-guitar interplay of the Strokes that made it all gel for her.

Was showing her Ramones youtubes, and she was fascinated by the realization that the whole skinnyjeans-converse-leatherjacket-buzzyguitars thing actually had a starting point. It was fun to see someone get the "1-2-3-4" gag with completely fresh ears!

the stilted thing is a big selling point. She's surrounded by peers who make over-emotive Florence and the Machine covers on their phones.

People arguing for stiltedness as a positive are reminding me that at the time (hell, probably back then on this thread) I said they'd be much better off with a drum machine. I wish to revise my judgment: they would have been better off replacing all the bandmembers with presets.

Or even better, The Presets.

Listening to Is This It right now and it's absolutely classic. The 'stiltedness' plus the fact that 90% of what they're doing is with rhythms. The chords just go up and down. In hindsight the obvious heir is LCD.

Soma and Alone Together are so much better than I remember, love the drums at the end of both.

Constantly amazed by how many of my peers just totally adore the first two Strokes records (me too but I go so far as the third). No disrespect but continuing to be bitchy about them 15 years later seems kinda silly.

The perception of silliness can run both ways.

there were so many new york bands at the time that were better. and put on better shows! the yyys. the rapture. radio 4, remember them? le tigre. the liars. fischerspooner. savy fav. holy shit maybe it WAS a golden age?!

what did Fischerspooner do besides a Wire cover and hideous fashion?

LSF was so good

EMERGE alfred do you not remember?? that song built an entire (and almost entirely illusory) "scene"! their shows were outrageous/hideous/amazing. nobody did spectacle like that at a show that i can think of until like, fever ray? i'm sure i'm forgetting someone amazing. but still.

I will always rep for the YYYs and the Rapture

rapture were a really fun live band imo

The Rapture's follow-up to Echoes (the post-DFA one with "Woo Alright Yeah Uh-Huh" on it) is mad underrated.