Earlier this year, The Strokes released The Modern Age, a three song EP that single-handedly captured the collective interest of the music scene. With its debut album, Is This It, a frenzy of media accolades erupted, hailing the group as quite possibly the best new band to emerge out of New York - and the United States - in years.
The five members of The Strokes, vocalist and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fab Moretti emit all that is romanticized about the lives of New York youth. Rooted in the style of the Velvet Underground and '60s Brit rock, their look is grungy and nonchalant and their songs are exuberant.
And perhaps that is what is responsible for the group's sudden popularity. The band embraces the aesthetic of past great punk and rock groups while simultaneously creating an original and fresh sound. Thus, Is This It is a rough and relatively simple album but one that is nonetheless incredibly well crafted - with songs all about chasing women and running from stale relationships.
The opening title track differs from the rest of the album with its Pixie-esque intro, but once Casablancas delivers the lines "Can't you see I'm trying, I don't even like it / I just lied to get to your apartment / Now I'm staying here just for a while" it transitions into a catchy tale of disappointment.
Perhaps the best song on the album, "The Modern Age," has Casablancas singing about the flux of emotion accompanying a relationship on its last leg. Lyrics such as "Leaving just in time / Stay there for a while / Rolling in the ocean / trying to catch her eye / Work hard and say it's easy / Do it just to please me / Tomorrow will be different / So I'll pretend I'm leaving" coupled with the pulsating energy of the drum and guitar rhythm, emit a poignancy laced with insouciance.
The single "Last Nite" opens with a relatively quiet electric guitar strum and surges into all that is jangle and infectious, while "Barely Legal" has Casablancas yearning to steal the innocence of a girl he's just met, but wanting to keep it a strict secret.
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Casablancas' vocal delivery manages to seem remote and distant yet entirely personal and energetic. Adding to the energy of the album is its length. At a mere 35 minutes, Is This It whirrs by in a flash of sex, desire and denial. The album's fluidity is enhanced not only by its frantic pace, but also The Strokes' ability to maintain an originality among the seemingly repetitive. But it is still hard not to shake your head or tap your feet when the rhythm kicks in on songs such as "Someday" and "Soma."
The Strokes, perhaps inadvertently, has gained a fair share of praise in only a miniscule amount of time. The talent shown on Is This It has already attracted hoards of fans to sold-out shows and created a buzz for the band's bright future. The promise is there; we can only hope that it's not fleeting.
