The Strokes - Classic or Duds?

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strokes are a quality band but perhaps they upcoming has come too soon and they will dissapoint next time round. perhaps we have the music media for spoiling this for us people who appreciate this music lets hope this doesnt happen.

― gh, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I really really like the Strokes. I can understand the hype surrounding them. They're cute, they make great pop music. But: what about Interpol ? They're the best band I've heard in a very long time, and definitely not playing in the same category as the Strokes... and nobody talks about them. Their four tracks ep on chemikal underground is the cd I've been listening to the most in the past few months (along with a bootleg recording of a show they played in France in August).

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

― Sébastien, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

i think the strokes are boring and derivative- total duds. bands like interpol are so much more deserving of the media attention and critical accolades. but what about the walkmen (former members of jonathan fire eater and the recoys)? i've been to a bunch of their shows and bought their vinyl, and i can't say enough good things about them. their music is interesting and complicated, but also pleasant and enjoyable. has anyone else heard them?

― judith, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I don't know what everyone's getting so het up about.
So what if the NME are writing about them a lot? What's wrong with enthusiasm?
So what if they sound like early Velvets played on a 70s tape recorder, sound like a castrated Stooges, sound like Elastica after a sex change?
Haven't heard the album but the songs' I've heard are alright, not my cuppa tea but I'd much rather have them over any more Nu- Metal/Rap Rock or trad-Indie strummers like Starsailor. And they look like a band. A good image! Better the shirt & tie look over the long shorts/baseball cap/tats or the slobby 'hey, I'm just like one of YOU' wear sported by Travis, Coldplay etcetera...

― DavidM, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Just saw the Strokes live, here's what i think: don't believe the hype. not the worst band i've ever seen, but really not anything to write home about either! boring drumming and bass... boring, lazy vox... above average, but nothing special guitars... and decent to mediocre songs that all sound the same. absolutely NO stage presence at all. i was expecting MUCH more... eh. if you dumbed down television with some vague/transparent stooges imitations, it's what you'd get, pretty much... i must saw, however, that the opening band, the moldy peaches, were quite possibly the worst fucking dreck i have ever had to endure. if you actually enjoy this band, you are probably a masochist, whether you know it or not. what a pathetic bunch of no- playing motherfuckers! do all these kids have daddies with connections, or what? yuck.

― ronald mccartney, Friday, 28 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

three weeks pass...

word up, ronald! let's send a message to the peeps by boycotting this shit: NO MORE MUSIC MADE BY NO-PLAYING FAGGOTS!

― anti, Friday, 19 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Sound like the Style Council, look like New York avant-garde stylists version of New York avant-garders. Could be funny but are adequate.

― Luke, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Actually, now that I've heard the album, I have to say that they're not bad. Not a band I could love, but not hateable either. In a way they remind me of Sonic Youth in the 3 or 4 years after Nirvana hit it big when they were trying to make their sound a little more commercial and pop. Though not quite as interesting.

― Nicole, Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Wow, it looks as if the U.S. MTV is getting behind them.

― scott p., Monday, 22 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

two weeks pass...

i just saw their video for some piece of shit song called last nite... WHAT THE FUCK??!!!! These derivative SOB's are the saviours of ROCK????!!! NOT FOR ME, THEY AIN'T! I am going to assume that the vocals in said video were done live for the shoot: BIG MISTAKE, that! This guy couldn't hold a tune, had NO POWER in his chords, and the whole band INCLUDING the singer were so bloody lifeless and lame, they have to resort to knocking over a mic-stand onto the drummer to seem edgy! LAME!!!! This may be the new rock and roll to the teenyboppers, but not to any adults I know! WEAK!!!!!!!!!

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

I'm just curious.

― captain oi!, Monday, 5 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

four months pass...

I finally borrowed this record two days ago -- first I'd heard of them! To be honest, I think it sounds great. About half these tracks are perfect, in their own way. Not a ton of "meaning," maybe (I've no idea what the songs are about), but some excellent tunes. Classic.

― Mark, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The recording really isn't very "bright" is it? I imagine it must have been quite cheap to record. At least they've probably recouped. What was the question again?

― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Time makes me think that more and more they are a promise that blew it. There's a Kraftwerk obsession in there that they did not cultivate properly and the result is dully competent and utterly uninvolving.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I'm still keen to hear what their next recordings are like. Maybe they will surprise us all. Or not.

― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Depends how many drugs they refuse.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

if you're interested in any new recordings, they've been playing a new song live called 'meet you in the bathroom', which is available on audiogalaxy. if it's anything to go by, they are indeed the american oasis... good debut, but they don't really have anywhere else to go from there.

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.

― minna, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

this leads me to ask the question: is it rockist to hate the strokes?

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?

― minna, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Now I can go back through the FT Strokes special and give it a proper read, anyway.

― Mark, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I wouldn't call the Strokes pastiche, particularly. Derivative, definitely.

― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

they are not the genuine article!

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.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Sounds like Ash.

― electric sound of jim, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

It's a start.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 26 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

eight months pass...

DUD DUD DUD, FOR GOD'S SAKE!

― Jay K (Jay K), Thursday, 28 November 2002 02:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh, shut the fuck up.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 28 November 2002 02:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't think they sound nearly as much like VU, Television, the Stooges, etc, etc as everybody claims. I don't think they're particularly great songsmiths, at least not at this point in their career, but they have a lot of promise. Catchy, at the very least.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Thursday, 28 November 2002 02:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Actually, they sound like... er... uh... the Patti Smith group, only fronted by a New York Bono, except this Bono styles his vocalizations after the theoretical offspring of Chrissie Hynde and Bruce Springsteen, and writes lyrics partially inspired by the more bitter mid '60s songs of Bob Dylan yet a bit less clever since they're tempered with Elastica's cheekiness and -

Fuck it, they sound like the Strokes.

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Thursday, 28 November 2002 15:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

They sound like Maxine Nightingale!

(or what Nate said at the end above)

― Jeff W, Thursday, 28 November 2002 15:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

they sound like my shit flushing down the toilet

― V or maybe Vee, Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

The "Ok, I think I'm going to like The Strokes... IRONICALLY" Backlash starts here...

(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?)

― kate, Thursday, 28 November 2002 19:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

Well, they haven't put in enough time to be a classic, but since they're ripping of the V.U., I guess they can't be a dud?!? All I know is that onstage they put out the energy of a tranquilized sloth corpse.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Friday, 29 November 2002 05:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

five months pass...

Who?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 11:04 (twenty years ago) link

i saw 'the modern age' in the used bin today and i thought 'ha you timed that badly, they'll be back any minute'

― minna (minna), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:02 (twenty years ago) link

is there a planned release date for the next record yet? they should put something out asap

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:07 (twenty years ago) link

They just scrapped all their sessions with Nigel Godrich to start anew. Oh dear...

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:11 (twenty years ago) link

...gone back to old (This Is It) producer for that "edge" they felt they were lacking...

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:11 (twenty years ago) link

Which just begs the question... are they just another fake boyband being manufactured by a producer?

― kate, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:14 (twenty years ago) link

Of course, Kate!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:18 (twenty years ago) link

Ned is the zeitgeist.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:22 (twenty years ago) link

HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAAAAAARRRRRR!!!

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.

― kate, Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:23 (twenty years ago) link

Kate was there (well, was online) when I came up with the unholy revelation that Guns n' Roses was just a boyband. After that everything else made much more sense.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:27 (twenty years ago) link

I just saw a very good band from Chicago called The Ponys who sound like what I kind of imagined The Strokes would sound before I axctually heard them... kind of casual sister ray-roadrunner throbulation played by cool kids, but all heart... they kinda kill The Strokes dead actually, the more I think about it. But I think a Ponys LP may demand a little more from the listener than "Is This It?" - which is not neccessarily a good thing. I liked how easy-going The Strokes were, the "take it or leave" stance made the album easier to love.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:31 (twenty years ago) link

The Strokes rock!!

― Evan (Evan), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:38 (twenty years ago) link

the ponys are "the royal tennenbaums" to the strokes' "igby goes down"

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 14:48 (twenty years ago) link

one year passes...

urgent and key

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:20 (nineteen years ago) link

That was depressing.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:22 (nineteen years ago) link

Holy shit.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:24 (nineteen years ago) link

ugh. OTM ned.

― peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:34 (nineteen years ago) link

i mean, strokes totally classic still.

― peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:36 (nineteen years ago) link

I generally have nothing against revivalist bands like The Strokes (I loved "Hard To Explain" and "Last Night"), but do they have to be so shitty live?

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:46 (nineteen years ago) link

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.

oh dear...

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Wednesday, 25 August 2004 13:58 (nineteen years ago) link

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