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the strokes: is this it
BY JIM LAAKSO
The Strokes are one Hot rock and roll band! Hotter than an Eskimo's armpit in Hawaii! And I don't just mean that these five stars have pretty faces (they do!)! Why, just listen to what VH-1 star commentator Joe Levy, BK '86, had to say about Is This It, the band's debut album! "This is the stuff of which legends are made," he writes! You hit that nail on the head, Joe! These boys are on their way to being bona-fide SuperStars! The day that Julian Casablancas and Fab Moretti met at a photo shoot for an Urban Outfitters ad is sure to go down as the greatest day since that nut God hooked up with Jesus and the Holy Spirit!The Strokes are puttin' some real Grit back into the Rock Scene! They sing tales of life on the streets, experience they gained the hard way while growing up in New York private schools! They consist of two guitars, a bass, drums, and vocals! Nothing else! No fancy frills! And singer Julian Casablancas sure has one nifty set of pipes! He snarls and howls just like Lou Reed in his prime!
We're all Hip here! So I'm sure everyone knows the rule: cool bands reference, uncool bands rip off! Which explains why The Strokes reference the Velvet Underground and Oasis rips off The Beatles! And you gotta dig that The Strokes are the referencin'-est band in town these days!
But when The Strokes are able to find something approaching Their Own Voice, things sound mighty nice! The title track is a real dandy, a more introspective number featuring a meaty bassline that stands out as the album's best moment—guess you could say that bassman Nikolia Fraiture is my Strokes pin-up! Lucky for me (and you!) that the liner notes consist entirely of head shots of each of the fellas! They'll fit perfectly in your locker or next to your pillow!
"New York City Cops" is a screaming rocker—another winner—but the band has since pulled it from the album! Certain Recent Events have rendered the "New York City cops/They ain't too smart" chorus insensitive! Not only are these boys super cute, they've got good hearts as well!
Too bad the rest of the album doesn't sound quite so fine as those two tracks! Weak boy-and-girl lyrics and muddy, forgettable stompers just don't cut it! But it is energetic! You could do some real dancing to these snappy numbers! I'll tell you one thing though, and that is that Is This It definitely beats a case of food poisoning! You can bet yer denim jacket on it! I did! (RCA)
All materials © 2001 The Yale Herald, Inc., and its staff.
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