The Strokes - Classic or Duds?

sorry i heard the comedown machine siren

Yeah, Comedown Machine is a fantastic record. The only weak moments are where they try and sound like old Strokes. Overall, Room On Fire is easily my favourite.

Interpol's debut stands up and Antics is pretty enjoyable. Delete everything after that, especially the self titled album which was a disaster.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs were getting better with each album until Mosquito which was almost as bad as the artwork. It's Blitz is the one I go back the most.

the s/t Interpol record was at least properly produced - the third one (Our Love to Admire) has that really high-end, nasally cocaine sound. Also the first half is better than anything on OLTA or the dud dud dud El Pintor album. "Summer Well," "Barricade," "Memory Serves," and "Success" are all Antics/Bright Lights caliber, especially "Summer Well."

I will also defend the s/t - they got unfairly slated for how depressing and bleak it was...for some reason?

The closing two tracks are among their most evocative

that record is bleak and depressing?

is this it?.. i was really really resistant when it first came out, seemed like such a tacky and dumb band to get so much hype and the music was annoying as shit. but i got into after a few months. that smooth velvety(fabric not band) sound is so sumptuous. their music had a nice warm energy. good tunes, good vocalist. totally classic.

room on fire is almost as good, the highs might be higher. "under control" is a massive song.

haven't listened to their later albums for some reason

loved is this it, hated room on fire with a passion, never bothered with any of the rest.

not really into any of these new york bands, "maps" is cool..

as for Fisherspooner, "emerge" is great but i dig electro/electro-revivial in general and my standards aren't terribly high.. it has a strange minimal structure to it though, the way the drums kind of drop in and out until the full on barrage towards the end. the wire cover sucked, iirc. rest of the album seemed ok.

love Fischerspooner. lol i love the Wire cover too, i prefer it over the original.

franz ferdinand are terrifying

Interpol's first album was great, i spent a lot of time hearing that while driving to thrift stores.

The Rapture was a lot of fun especially in the club or for drunken dance parties. "House of Jealous Lovers" was an early 20s anthem for me. it was surprising to see them open for The Cure at years later and sonically it being a huge let-down. its a claustrophobic kind of music that just seems to reverberate into mush in an open-air amphitheater/festival setting.

loved is this it, hated room on fire with a passion, never bothered with any of the rest.

this is insane to me

they dressed up like NYC 70s rock scene but sonically were closer to the Cars and Tom Petty

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 2:28 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, exactly, they started making more sense to me when i thought of the cars or like sniff n the tears

not surprised to see a ton of extra-musical dismissals here

I prefer Rooms on Fire -- it's funnier, more assured, songs about getting fucked up and their scene that are sharper musically and lyrically than the debut ("So many fish here in the sea/she wanted him, he wanted me"), but I'm not gonna argue about it. Minor band.

Not culturally

I'm gay, we don't affect culture

Visage and Ultravox are minor bands too. They affect culture more than greater ones.

love Fischerspooner. lol i love the Wire cover too, i prefer it over the original.

― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau)

The second Fischerspooner album is secretly really brilliant, especially A Kick In The Teeth which was even better than Emerge.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs were fanrastic up until Mosquito, and It's Blitz! is easily one of my favourite albums of that decade without question.

I always thought Fischerspooner were crap.

Visage and Ultravox are minor bands too. They affect culture more than greater ones.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, May 17, 2017 12:44 AM (twenty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Island-era Ultravox were a very influential cult band.

Agreed!

I will also defend the s/t - they got unfairly slated for how depressing and bleak it was...for some reason?

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.)

lol

sonically were closer to the Cars and Tom Petty

back to back "American Girl" and "Last Night" is a great DJ move.

the inevitable Rick Rubin comeback album!!!

http://pitchfork.com/news/the-strokes-recording-new-album-with-rick-rubin-says-albert-hammond-jrs-dad/?mbid=homepage-more-latest-and-video

the inevitable hyperbole-laden retrospective -
"it was a bomb in the middle of a plastic pool"? sounded to me like just another bunch of guys with guitars.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/27/that-was-it-how-the-strokes-and-new-york-rock-ripped-up-british-music

i see this has been largely covered upthread, carry on.

Comedown Machine should really be considered on par w/the first two imo

otm

Completely agree. One of the most underrated albums of the decade.

damn ok i should revisit it.
love the first two.

The new single is good but the video is...stunning? What in the hell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CAz_vvsK9M

i'm excited for this and i hope the like five others here who also adore comedown machine are too

"at the door" is a bit of a left-turn and sounds like a very stripped down phrazes for the young track but it's not bad. there's shitty footage of them playing another new song "bad decisions" yesterday which sounds very good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3ZoII-w3GY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fbZTnZDvPA

yeah i love this one

Count me in as one of the five who loved Comedown Machine. Really like both of these singles. I especially ove the guitar sound on Bad Decisions and the not-so subtle nod to Billy Idol's Dancing With Myself.

listening to Comedown Machine now, this sounds great

three previous posts otm

There’s a Billy Idol writing credit. Either he did help write it or it was a pre-emptive move to not get sued for it.

Almost certainly the latter.

Sounds more like "I Melt With You" imo than anything by Billy Idol.

Oh yeah, wait... the chorus definitely bites "Dancing."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jna3dWEnzo

this one sounds like a phrazes for the young track but doesn't quite do it for me

love it

i think the individual sections are decent enough but they don't quite fit together?

Well I liked the Strokes and the Libertines and the Stone Roses [cowers in corner, awaiting rain of ILM boots]

i feel like rick helped julian find his way with vocal delivery again or something. he was stuck in that weird drawling thing for years. he sounds noticeably better on all of these to me compared with last few strokes and voidz albums.

Ah, this is so great. Really can't wait for this album now.

album is pretty good on first listen. it's closer to comedown machine than any of their other albums, though not quite as good. really like "the adults are talking" and "eternal summer" and "why are sundays so depressing" is the most phoenix song they've ever written lol

Solid album but definitely doesn't excite me the same way Comedown Machine did. I'm surprised how downbeat and subtle it is, especially the second half. The production reminds me of Angles but the songwriting is much stronger this time round. Julian sounds great throughout.