RCA’s stroke of style

The Strokes have style. And that, to say the least, applies not only to their hip fashion sense but to their music as well. The NYC rocker’s bio claims, “Their music makes you forget who you are and unlocks the possibilities of what you might want to be.” “Is This It?” is proof that The Strokes are capable of just that.

Called the second coming of the Velvet Underground, not a source remains untapped that does not resemble the all-too-often overlooked gritty NYC rock of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Julian Casablanca’s voice and vocal style greatly resembles that of Lou Reed, sounding at times like it was tracked from across the room.

The Strokes make music from concrete – combining a touch of avant-garde and a lot of rock-n-roll – in much the same way that the Velvets did. It would be ungrateful to not also include Television and The Stooges in the list of mentors that has made The Strokes the recipients of so much critical hype. The
band’s influences run deep, but you won’t catch them ripping off anyone. Instead, they have taken the elements that make the classics work and put them to a use all their own. Check out “The Modern Age,” “Barely Legal,” “Last Night,” “Hard to Explain,” and “NYC Cops” (the latter being available on the UK import version only).

Here is a debut album unlike many others. “Is This It?” is one of the best works of the new millennium and definitely the finest of the year. It’s a breath of fresh air, if not a rebirth, for rock-n-roll. So what happens after earning praise from the British press and becoming a favorite among schoolgirls? If history repeats itself (see Oasis), the trendsetters will soon become the subject of the inevitable hype-backlash. But it’s the music that matters, and with that said, The Strokes are certainly where it’s at for now.

There is absolutely no reason that college radio stations everywhere shouldn’t be cranking this album out at the very top of their play lists. “Is This It?” Yes, I think so.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 26 2001. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry