The Strokes were one of those bands who emerged surfing a sea of hype.
In 2001 in the run up to their debut album Is This It they were all over the mainstream press and media as well as the music press
It was met with 4 or 5 star reviews and entered the charts at number 2. Unbelievably in 2009 NME ranked it as best record of the 2000's.
I had a burn of it on the shelves and recently spent 50p to upgrade it.I think I probably enjoyed it much more at the time than I do now.
Maybe an age thing or perhaps like similar hyped bands The Fratellis and Razorlight their music does not appear to have lasted the tests of time.
Still it was probably worth the 50p for Last Nite if nothing else.
The Strokes - Last Night
The Strokes - New York City Cops
I was pretty excited about the new young saviors. I even drove down to San Diego from LA with a few friends to see them in a small venue when the hype machine was in full gear. And they sucked. Saw them again on their next, bigger tour, and they still didn't deliver. Saw Julian Casablancas solo at Coachella and he was horrendous. Over the years I think the only song they did that I enjoyed was 'Machu Pichu'. What a disappointment!
ReplyDeleteIt sounded great at the time, and some of the songs still sound good, the 2 you've posted especially. they just weren't the saviours of rock n roll.
ReplyDeleteI have a vivid memory of hearing Last Nite for the first time, and I completely fell for that first album. Funny, though, I can't remember the last time I listened to it. A quick peek at the shelves tells me I have Room on Fire too. Have I ever listened to it?
ReplyDeleteComing from NYC and working peripherally in the music (photography) business, The Strokes were one of those bands that really wasted reams of fax machine paper before they ever released a song. Their familial connections and their fashion/rock connections really turned many in NYC, including myself off. To be truthful though, they really, really appealed to way more people.
ReplyDeleteBut all that career choreography really made them seem more fake and manufactured, no matter how much of a shambolic, edgy sound they made live. I have the debut...I've played it more than a few times and it left me cold. The second album, Room On Fire was much more approachable but not necessarily memorable. After that I just moved on.
Have to say I fell for them right from their very start. I didn't need Peel's push or NME's heavy support to love 'em so. (As an aside, my lad never got over the fact that I saw The Strokes, White Stripes and The Hives all in the same month at Sheff Leadmill. Father son rivalry eh?). How then can I explain, several years later, the feeling that they're just another white indie boy NYC band? There must be some existential explanation - let's go.......
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