No, It’s Not

The Strokes exemplify the revived garage rock movement that took place early in the 21^st century. Since their debut album Is This It?, their records have had that sound that’s often associated with the garage rock movement: fuzzed guitars, bass, and vocals that sound like they’re being recorded in a room without any windows. A lot of times the sound seems muted. Their music wasn’t necessarily complicated, which a lot of rock ‘n roll purists felt (and still feel) would be the savior of rock music. And most of the lyrics focused on the traumas of everyday life, particularly when it comes to love. Needless to say, like most forms of music the popular style comes and goes as the buying public comes and goes.

The Strokes have been on a sort of hiatus for a few years with a couple of the band members embarking on side projects. However, their album Is This It? remains a staple on rock radio, years after its release. Is This It? also remains their highest rated album.

#22 – The Strokes, Is This It? (Metascore = 90)

This album is catchy—ultra-catchy. As soon as “Is This It” came on, I was tapping my fingers on the mouse pad to Fabrizio Moretti’s drums and the guitars of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr. The riffs are not complicated; they just drive with the beat while Julian Casablancas sings/stumbles through lyrics that could be acted out at a bar or dance club. He almost sounds drunk working through the words, which could be intentional based on the lyrics.

The fun continues on “Modern Age”, which features a sweet guitar solo from Valensi. In listening through the record a couple of times (which isn’t hard to do), Casablancas delivery varies from moments of singing to moments of talking. The music never really deviates in sound from song to song, which is good and bad. It’s good in that the listener stays connected while Casablancas tells stories of taking drugs, wooing women, and fighting. It’s bad in that some listeners may tire of the monotony. But that is an element of garage rock that has been around since the 1960’s.

This record was released in 2001, and many of the songs have been played on some rock station since. Two songs in particular—“Someday” and “Last Nite”—have been on rock radio regularly since then. Those two songs are the catchiest tunes on the record, but really the whole album could have been released as a single. Either way, this album did very well and propelled the Strokes to the forefront of rock ‘n roll.

I love this record! I’ve heard it a bunch of times, so it’s easy for me to recommend anyone to listen to it. I found all of the elements here provide a very enjoyable listening experience.