The Strokes - Classic or Duds?

(Oh, yeah - the obvious gag. Har-de-har-har-har.)

Supposedly, at a show I attended, Mr. Harrington attempted to mount the face of an audience member. How the hell did I miss THAT?!? (Jerry - get that LSF bitch published somewhere, yo - they could use the press. And their latest release, actually, is the _Rome_ EP on Southern Records. New album coming soon, too!)

In the US, I doubt The Strokes would be able to sell water to dehydrated camels, no matter how good they are. Andy speaketh the truth - it's all about boobies (or, in Fred's case, boobs).

You want rock & melon-farmin' roll, you want some Ted Leo (who just so happens to have an album out on Lookout!, which seems to be quite the hot ticket nowadays, though I still need to get my own copy to judge for myself, but I liked Ted's 1st solo effort, along with Chisel's later efforts, so my endorsement for Ted is justified). (Thank you.)

Fuck the Strokes - name some other fresh-n-new rock bands, maaaaan.

I saw the end of Les Savy Fav when they opened for the Ex at the Knitting Factory. Eh.

But as a little bit of dressing on the salad of my musical intake, I find them very much acceptable.

Why does the most unassuming, faceless representative of a certain musical sect / region get the greatest amount of hoopla or press?

It's not bad, no, but, damn, Superchunk would go quadruple platinum with the amount of buzz these guys have garnered.

Again - an interesting group, from what I've heard, outside of the all the damn hype. But it's the DAMN HYPE (copyright) that's sabotaging the whole enterprise. Never mind the atavistic anti-NYC / hipster gag reflex.

There are moments of rock splendour: a few of the lyrics, the bass line of the title track; but these moments are far too fleeting and far too few. My first thought on listening to this album was “Cake meets Iggy Pop”. They have taken a back-to-basics approach, sounding as though they have recorded the album on an 8-track, with 3 tracks to spare: perhaps intentional, but definitely unimpressive all the same.

They desperately want to be sleazy, and to a slight degree they achieve this – for a flash in ‘Trying Your Luck’ (the best song on the album, in my opinion) the chorus pitches and lingers in memory for a moment – it is simple and effective, but then it dissipates and the climax is lost. The guitar almost swirls but ends up being lost in the appalling mix. Elsewhere on the album the vocals drone on, but here they are a hybrid of Top Cat and Frank Sinatra on smack.

‘NYC Cops’ is deservedly a single. It’s catchy, and the intro snares you, but there is nothing overwhelming about it, nothing that could change ones life as the press have suggested it will. The ultimate in lo-fi, The Strokes churn out 11 songs that would be hardly distinguishable from each other if is wasn’t for the pause between them.

Two thumbs down for this. Sorry.

"Hard To Explain" and a few other songs I've heard off their album are enjoyable enough. My only gripe is, with all that hype, surely they can finally afford to buy the singer a microphone that isn't broken? And the album's cover photo is a bit unnecessary.

Though I like the line: "Rolling in the ocean / trying to catch your eye" Yay!

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

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

I'm just curious.

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.

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?

Eternal Summer is the only one I'm not totally sold on right now.

this is the best julian's voice has ever sounded

lol whoops didn't read moka's post. otm

lol I don't think Rick Rubin does much except sit on a couch

need to hear this, big Comedown Machine fan

I feel kinda bad I feel like these guys can't win, no matter what they do it's going to be compared unfavorably to the first two

i like this record a lot but the tempo is generally pretty sleepy, whereas comedown machine has that mania i crave

this album and the last one should switch titles

completely baffled that RYM has decided this is their long-awaited return-to-form, not Comedown Machine

like this album is solid enough with a few real highlights but it's got nothing on Comedown Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX-_yLyU1fU