Arriving on a wave of well-earned hype rooted in tight chops and a confident swagger, the Strokes offer a rock & roll antidote to the plague of boy bands, teen divas, and petulant rap-rock outfits. Despite this quintet’s prep-school background, their sound comes from the same primordial ooze that spawned Big Apple legends like the New York Dolls and the Velvet Underground.

Clocking in at 36 minutes, IS THIS IT packs its perfect length with stellar songs that draw inspiration from all over the map. Among the many highlights are “Last Nite” with its insistent Motown backbeat and choppy Johnny Thunders-like guitar solo, “Barely Legal,” sounding like 1980s-era Cure fronted by a saucy Iggy Pop, and the jangly “Someday” with its hairshirt of vulnerability from a bad break-up. While frontman Julian Casablancas (son of Elite Models founder John) drawls like Lou Reed through a busted intercom, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. do Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd proud as their sinewy chords intertwine to great effect on the angular “The Modern Age” and equally neurotic “Alone, Together.” Thanks to the Strokes, rumors of rock & roll’s demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

Tracklisting
1. Is This It
2. The Modern Age
3. Soma
4. Barely Legal
5. Someday
6. Alone, Together
7. Last Nite
8. Hard To Explain
9. New York City Cops
10. Trying Your Luck
11. Take It Or Leave It

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) – Ranked #49 in Rolling Stone’s “50 Coolest Records”.

Rolling Stone (1/03/02, p.119) – Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone’s “Top 10 2001″.

Rolling Stone (10/11/01, pp.89-90) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Pure New York rock & roll: all gray-pavement aggression wrapped in black-leather cool….The music leaves no doubts – more joyful and intense than anything else…heard this year.”

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.108) – Ranked #49 in Rolling Stone’s “50 Coolest Records”.

Rolling Stone (1/03/02, p.119) – Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone’s “Top 10 2001″.

Rolling Stone (10/11/01, pp.89-90) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Pure New York rock & roll: all gray-pavement aggression wrapped in black-leather cool….The music leaves no doubts – more joyful and intense than anything else…heard this year.”

Spin (1/02, p.77) – Ranked #18 in Spin’s “Albums of the Year 2001″ – “…Super-catchy songs that make you wanna pogo…the male Elastica!”

Spin (1/02, p.77) – Ranked #18 in Spin’s “Albums of the Year 2001″ – “…Super-catchy songs that make you wanna pogo…the male Elastica!”

Entertainment Weekly (12/28/01, p.136) – Ranked #1 “Album of the Year”.

Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) – “…A blur of sooty grit and grind…” – Rating: A-

Entertainment Weekly (12/28/01, p.136) – Ranked #1 “Album of the Year”.

Entertainment Weekly (9/28/01, pp.71-2) – “…A blur of sooty grit and grind…” – Rating: A-

Q (9/01, p.120) – 5 stars out of 5 – “…A breathless, goggle-eyed, assuredly brilliant album…it works wonders.”

Q (9/01, p.120) – 5 stars out of 5 – “…A breathless, goggle-eyed, assuredly brilliant album…it works wonders.”

Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) – Ranked #25 in AP’s “25 Best Albums of 2001″.

Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) – Ranked #25 in AP’s “25 Best Albums of 2001″.

Magnet (12-1/02, p.57) – Included in Magnet’s “20 Best Albums of 2001″.

Magnet (12-1/02, p.57) – Included in Magnet’s “20 Best Albums of 2001″.

CMJ (10/15/01, p.6) – “…One big rock’n'roll orgy…”

CMJ (10/15/01, p.6) – “…One big rock’n'roll orgy…”

Mojo (Publisher) (p.63) – Ranked #33 in Mojo’s “100 Modern Classics” — “Rattled together hastily, The Strokes’ debut captured the Bowery-basement cool of ‘their moment’.”

Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) – Ranked #3 in Mojo’s “Best [40] Albums of 2001″.

Mojo (Publisher) (9/01, p.97) – “…A heartily uplifting brew of scruffy street style, swear words and stammering pop tunes which sweat musical history…and sound infuriatingly easy to make…”

Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.69) – Ranked #3 in Mojo’s “Best [40] Albums of 2001″.

Mojo (Publisher) (9/01, p.97) – “…A heartily uplifting brew of scruffy street style, swear words and stammering pop tunes which sweat musical history…and sound infuriatingly easy to make…”

NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) – Ranked #1 in NME’s 50 “Albums Of the Year 2001″.

NME (Magazine) (8/25/01, p.49) – 10 out of 10 – “…Concise and elegant rock music by 5 young men….Indispensable….There’s nothing unnecessary here…”

NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) – Ranked #1 in NME’s 50 “Albums Of the Year 2001″.

NME (Magazine) (8/25/01, p.49) – 10 out of 10 – “…Concise and elegant rock music by 5 young men….Indispensable….There’s nothing unnecessary here…”

Related Posts
The Strokes – Room On Fire

After the hype–and subsequent backlash–over the Strokes’ debut album, IS THIS IT, many fans and skeptics alike came to realize that the band’s catchy, punk-pillaging rock ditties were, ultimately, very difficult to resist. Their eagerly anticipated follow-up, ROOM ON FIRE, is cut from the same vintage 1970s cloth, but added flourishes keep the album from sounding like a mere redux.

“What Ever Happened?” opens ROOM ON FIRE with a chiming, staccato guitar riff and kicks into the immediately identifiable Strokes swagger. However, while listening to Julian Casablancas’s melancholy lyrics and the song’s carefully crafted changes, it’s clear that this is a maturing band that knows its strengths. This notion is further supported by the hard-charging “Reptilia,” one of the group’s finest tunes to date. And though the Strokes opted out of working with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, the concept of expanding their palette (even if only slightly) stuck, given the presence of keyboard sounds (on the gleefully Cars-like “12:51″ and “The End Has No End”) and reggae-influenced guitars (on “Automatic Stop” and “Between Love & Hate”). Although ROOM ON FIRE doesn’t mark a radical musical departure for the band, the concise and consistently engaging album solidifies their status as skilled rock revivalists.

Tracklisting
1. What Ever Happened?
2. Reptilia
3. Automatic Stop
4. 12:51
5. You Talk Way Too Much
6. Between Love & Hate
7. Meet Me In The Bathroom
8. Under Control
9. The End Has No End
10. The Way It Is
11. I Can’t Win

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (12/25/03, p.110) – Included in Rolling Stone’s “50 Best Albums of 2003″

Rolling Stone (10/30/03, p.86) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…[One] of the best things about ROOM ON FIRE is that…the Strokes have resisted the temptation to hit the brakes, grow up and screw around with a sound that doesn’t need fixing….This record was built for thrills and speed.”

Spin (12/03, pp.121-2) – “…The gambit pays off: ROOM ON FIRE is the rare album you could imagine rocking college radio and storming Clear Channel’s barricades…” – Grade: A-

Entertainment Weekly (10/31/03, pp.71-72) – “…There’s still something undeniably appealing about the Strokes. They’re raw and corrosive, yet surprisingly intimate…” – Rating: B

Q (01/01/04, p.83) – Ranked #7 in Q’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2003″

Q (11/03, p.102) – 5 stars out of 5 – “…Everything a second album needs to be, it’s like IS THIS IT but more emotional, more colourful, slightly better…”

Uncut (01/04, pp.84-7) – Ranked #45 in Uncut’s “Albums Of The Year 2003″

Uncut (11/03, p.108) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Once again 11 concise, usually thrilling songs filled with bewilderment, romance and a sense of climactic payback…”

CMJ (11/17/03, p.8) – “…[Repaints] its predecessor as a promising first release, with potential to grow into something truly formidable….[the opening track] is arguably the Strokes’ finest moment to date…”

Mojo (Publisher) (01/01/04, p.60) – Ranked #4 in Mojo’s “The Best of 2003″

Mojo (Publisher) (11/03, p.124) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…This record is good. Thirty-three minutes and 13 seconds of bruised pop music. Tough, intense, no slack…”

Related Posts
Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young

Julian Casablancas is known all around the world for his unique alternative rock sounds with his band the Strokes, and he is one of today’s most innovate (and certainly unique) artists. For nearly three years, Casablanca has been remaining outside of the public arena while recording a new album for release. It will be his debut solo album. Fans have long been waiting for his newest album to come out since its initial announcement back in July of 2009. His album is called “Phrazes for the Young”, and it is well over three years in the making of work. Only until just recently was the actual release date announced, and it will be hitting stores on October 20th through RCA. This particular album will be filled with music that reminds you of the Ramones and Strokes’ Television (which is done deliberately). This lends the album with a unique garage rock sound, and it will undoubtedly appeal to your ears. Casablanca’s primary inspiration for the album was derived from Oscar Wilde’s essay called, “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young”. Julian Casablanca’s “Phrazes for the Young” contains eight tracks total. Some of the songs in this album are to include “Glass”, “Ludlow St” and “River of Brake Lights”. This solo debut is bound to make some waves in music.

Tracklisting
1. Out Of The Blue
2. River Of Brake Lights
3. 4 Chords Of The Apocalypse
4. 11Th Dimension
5. Ludlow St.
6. Glass
7. Left & Right In The Dark
8. Tourist

Professional Reviews
Q (Magazine) (p.98) – 3 stars out of 5 — “['River Of Brake Lights' is] a cyber-punk fuzz of vocoder, drum machine and malfunctioning-computer solo, for Casablancas it’s exciting unchartered territory.”