The Strokes are possibly the most one-dimensional band of the decade, with each song being a slight variation on the song that came directly before it. Plus shitty sounding drums and a singer who sings every song like a dirge regardless of its tempo.
Which is why they've made only three albums.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:28 (fifteen years ago) link
"hard to explain," which i think is relatively boring.
― 69, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 12:27 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark
i love every song on this album but this is probably my least favorite - never got the hype at all
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:32 (fifteen years ago) link
there are soooo many bands this decade who are totally one-dimensional with each song being a slight variation on the song that came directly before it. i can actually tell the songs on this record from each other, which is more than i can say for a lot of those other bands.
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:32 (fifteen years ago) link
Is This It completely and totally destroys any other rock album made this decade. People always talk about Loveless being the death knell of rock, but I nominate Is This It. When it was released, everybody was all like, "Awesome! Rock is back! The Strokes are gonna save rock and roll!" but it just didn't happen. For one thing, the album couldn't have been promoted any worse. It wasn't just the "NYC Cops" thing; the import was released like six months before the U.S. version, so everybody pretty much already got ahold of it before then, so it entered the charts at like number 75 or something like that and in next few weeks it couldn't meander any higher than I think 33. And instead The Vines (ugh) got all the hype and the "Rock Is Back!" Rolling Stone cover, but they fucking suck, so nobody cared. Then two years later, the Strokes themselves came back with Room on Fire, which if you ask me is right up there with Second Coming and La Cucaracha in the "Awesome! My favorite band just made a new album....... wait a minute! This sucks!" category. The end. Goodnight rock and roll!
Favorite song? I'd have to go with "Someday," because it's my preferred Is This It song to play to neophytes, who then get this odd look on their faces like, "You mean there actually IS some good new rock music out there??"
And please do not compare this fine album to the wretched Kings of Leon, whom I detest very much.
― Mr. Snrub, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:32 (fifteen years ago) link
and tbh they switched up the sounds on some songs pretty successfully on 'room on fire' - 1251, under control, end is no end, the way it is - so i dont think it really matters that everything on 'is this it' sounds the same - it's their first album! - that's what it's supposed to sound like, basically
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:34 (fifteen years ago) link
new entry in the snrub canon
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:36 (fifteen years ago) link
what they really needed on subsequent albums was a new producer. Ric Ocasek might have been a good choice. I wonder what Steve Albini would have done to their sound.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:36 (fifteen years ago) link
How do people feel about Strokes v. Exploding Hearts?
― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:36 (fifteen years ago) link
Even in 2001, I didn't get what was such a revelation about this record (why it was "saving" rock). It's undynamic in every way, flat and lifeless and just a drag to listen to.
And the first two Kings of Leon albums are the same way, but I'll actually rep for the third and fourth ones. They're a much better band now than they were at the beginning.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:37 (fifteen years ago) link
this cover really is so fucked up, never saw this before
http://www.heavenly100.com/images/artists/the%20vines/rolling%20stone%20cover%20jpg
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Strokes v. Exploding Hearts
Exploding Hearts by a bajillion light years!
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
they switched up the sounds on some songs pretty successfully on 'room on fire' - 1251, under control, end is no end, the way it is
I'll agree with this somewhat. Room on Fire is the best of their three albums fo sho.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:40 (fifteen years ago) link
BOUND, GAGGED and LOVING ITThe People Who Pay To Be Kidnapped
― velko, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:41 (fifteen years ago) link
bound gagged and loving it hahaha xp
― 69, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:42 (fifteen years ago) link
bound>>gagged>>>kidnapped>>>>>>>>>>is this it
― velko, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:44 (fifteen years ago) link
I love the Exploding Hearts; they were full of great songs, lots of dynamic range, and fun teenage energy. RIP!The Strokes are kind of a different band though; they are more understated and controlled. Certainly, this can be seen as a bad thing, but I choose to see it as music for a different mood.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Even in 2001, I didn't get what was such a revelation about this record (why it was "saving" rock)
Nobody said this seriously besides the crackhead designers of rock mag covers.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:48 (fifteen years ago) link
Also, WTF was up with the Television and Velvet Underground comparisons when The Strokes first popped on the scene? Couldn't be more rong
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:49 (fifteen years ago) link
People always talk about Loveless being the death knell of rock
The kind of death knells that knock over straw men.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:49 (fifteen years ago) link
They are this generation's "The Knack"?
― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 7:23 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
they wish
Bee OK, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 2:18 AM (17 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban PermalinkOther messages have been posted since you last looked... Please review and if you want to change your message, do so before posting.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, July 8, 2009 7:49 PM (29 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
ummmm because they sound a lot like television, i guess.
― FREE DOM AND ETHAN (special guest stars mark bronson), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:50 (fifteen years ago) link
i didn't understand the VU thing at all until i heard the pre-album version of "Modern Age" with the super Lou Reedalike vox, but the album itself not so much
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:52 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't hear it at all. Television is really wiry, and The Strokes have all the nuance of a cinder block.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:53 (fifteen years ago) link
A collection of fan responses to Is This It would make a dandy addendum to this thread:
Poll: Bandwagonesque v. Nevermind v. Loveless
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:53 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah "the modern age" kinda has that muffled, methodical chug of early VU songs
― ruffalo stance (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:54 (fifteen years ago) link
they sound absolutely nothing like VU though; that comparison always seemed really lazy and misguided ('they're from NEW YORK!!!'), and i think it made people have wrong expectations about them. i don't remember ever hearing the strokes champion themselves as saviors of rock or whatever, but all the hype made us hate them all the more when they didn't do it-- even though they never claimed they were on such a mission. that's why it was hard for some of us to swallow "Is This It" without having some cultural prejudice about it, or want to hate it out of instinct.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:54 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah but, like i said, their first singles that got them all the early press had SUPER lou reed-y vocals, it's not some shock that set the tone for a lot of their coverage.
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:55 (fifteen years ago) link
my local alt-rock station always plays the pre-Is This It version of "Last Night" and I just HATE the way it's sung on that version -- not real into Casablancas but he definitely toned down his worst tendencies by the time they cut the LP.
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:56 (fifteen years ago) link
what does "lou reed-y vocals" mean? tuneless?
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:57 (fifteen years ago) link
I was 27 when ITI was released and I liked it a lot – it made my top ten, and "Someday" and "The Modern Age" were always played at a Miami club called Revolver. I knew it was an accident: that they were a really good minor band with one more album left in them. Rooms On Fire turned out to be their Candy-O: they had their shit down. I don't want to hear them again but they summon good times.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:58 (fifteen years ago) link
idk, they sound enough like television to me. not hearing the similarities "at all" sounds like some narcissism in respect of small differences ish to me. it would be ok if they hadn't been hyped as a big deal, changing the face of indie rock (well, ok as in easier to ignore), but they were. they aren't bad, just really minor.
i don't get the VU comparison so much, but the television sound is pretty hard to ignore.
― FREE DOM AND ETHAN (special guest stars mark bronson), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:58 (fifteen years ago) link
listen to the EP version of "Modern Age" and tell me he's not doing a straight up LR impression
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:58 (fifteen years ago) link
'The thing that blew my mind first hearing the Strokes was that they were the closest I had heard rock come to classical,' she says. 'Their music is extraordinarily orderly and composed. It's almost
― velko, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 17:59 (fifteen years ago) link
i guess to some extent sonically they're like Television, but TV was just so supple and jazzy and had such amazing little virtuoso moments even between the guitar solos, the Strokes are so steady and chug-chug-chug that i can't really think of those bands in the same category at all
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:00 (fifteen years ago) link
not hearing the similarities "at all" sounds like some narcissism in respect of small differences ish to me.
Well I mean if you're counting the fact both bands share guitars, bass and drums, then yeah...I guess I do hear the similarities. I've never been a big Television fan either, but the comparison is apples to doo doo.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:01 (fifteen years ago) link
they're The Cars, dude.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:01 (fifteen years ago) link
not really, even after they openly courted that comparison on the 2nd album
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:02 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, you got me there; at times it sounds ridiculously like Lou Reed. That was the first indication of any relation to VU I've ever heard. but yet, this VU shit still factored into nearly ever review I read of the album, which doesn't sound like this.
here it is for those of you who want to play along at homehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRZyKYOX0Cc
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:04 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh dang, I'd forgotten how much more BANG the ep versions had of those songs. If they'd have released just that and then nothing ever again, I'd be on the other side of this whole argument.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:10 (fifteen years ago) link
seems to me like the main difference is the production
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, the sound of the albums is a big part of why I don't like them much. They have the worst drum sound I've ever heard, ever.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:15 (fifteen years ago) link
(but I also think they're repetitive as hay-ull)
the reason i like the album better than the pre-album stuff is because JC stopped pronouncing things in a corny rawk singer way like "hay-ull"
― Turnswagonesque (some dude), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:20 (fifteen years ago) link
the tunes on this album are good though. i once towed the standard contrarian line about how this was soulless hype, but it convinced me otherwise-- unlike forgettable "critic's choice" bullshit like, oh, let's say Burial, Shearwater, MIA, Dizzee Rascal, Fleet Foxes... oh god-- I could go on all day.
It is hard to believe this was not written by a Mr. Snrub sockpuppet.
― her performance (ie, her pubes) stood out for me (HI DERE), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:25 (fifteen years ago) link
he's not Jesus Christ but his initials are the same.
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:25 (fifteen years ago) link
why? because someone else thought all that was overrated crap? i'm almost always disappointed by these albums that everyone raves to high heaven about (and then stops talking about 2 months after release).
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:27 (fifteen years ago) link
(yeah, not all of the stuff I mentioned got forgotten, but most of it is quite mediocre, IMO)
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:28 (fifteen years ago) link
OT: Even though I almost never listen to them, it chaps my ass when people slag Shearwater because one of my friends is in the band.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:30 (fifteen years ago) link
(and it probably shouldn't, because I know I would absolutely join in the slagging if he wasn't)
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:31 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm almost always disappointed by these albums that everyone raves to high heaven about (and then stops talking about 2 months after release).
You have just described almost every album ever made (particularly in the age of advance leaks)! Congratulations!
― her performance (ie, her pubes) stood out for me (HI DERE), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:36 (fifteen years ago) link
(I know I'm as guilty as the next person of the hyperbolic dismissal but considering that threads about Dizzee Rascal and M.I.A. went on for more than a year and the Burial and Fleet Foxes threads had similar longevity, that post smacks of willfully ignoring what other people are actually talking about just because you don't like it.)
― her performance (ie, her pubes) stood out for me (HI DERE), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:42 (fifteen years ago) link
first track got robbed. that sick bass line.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 9 July 2018 23:16 (six years ago) link