The Strokes – Is This It

Rock – Released July 30, 2001 – 11 songs, 36 mins 

REID’s album drop:

I’m going to use a phrase Roz used for his choice last week but in a different context; this pick is for me.

Hearing praises of The New Abnormal from you both in 2020 gave me all sorts of feels. And HOPE that more joy awaits. That HOPE is you’ll be pumped to eventually see them when we can see live music again, and not just go WITH me.

Their discography is stellar and why not choose their first and arguably their best – Is This It – The Strokes

Side note: I watched this interview last week and thought it’d be a great one to listen to before/during the review. Narwuar can be annoying but a lot of interesting info in this:

Side side note: choose the version with ‘New York City Cops’ at #9. The interview will tell you what happened there.

REID

No secret here, I love this album. This week was spent dancing and singing along in my kitchen cooking or at my desk working.

Is This It? Is a fun opener. Really enjoy how they hold off initially on the bass and bring it in slowly. The Modern Age isn’t exactly their best but it’s upbeat and belongs on this album. How much friggin fun is Soma? Sunny day, windows down type jam. Next up we have a singalong for me with Barely Legal (‘I didn’t take no shortcutttsss, I spent my money I savvveed up, oh Mama runnin outta luck, like my sister don’t give ah fuck’). Someday is my favourite on the album. Always makes me think of my best buddies, all the great times we’ve had and how we’ll miss them as we get older. Ranks up there with favourite all-time songs. Rolling right along with Alone, Together which isn’t a top song contender but again, love it. ‘Life seems unreal, can we go back to your place’ - love that line. Last Night is next and man, this song just rules. It’s probably my ‘karaoke’ song. Everyone has one, right? Believe this was the first single off this record and for good reason. Getting repetitive here but Hard to Explain effectively keeps the album flow going. The story behind New York City Cops is pretty cool. If you didn’t catch it in the Nardwuar interview, they removed it from the album temporarily after 9/11. ‘New York City Cops, they ain’t too smart’ wasn’t exactly a great line to be promoting. Deadly song. Trying Your Luck will always remind me of my buddy, Steve Porter. It was his favourite. We used to listen to this vinyl at his place in high school. Take It Or Leave It is another beauty to end it.

Fun fact – I have the ‘Big Bang’ album cover version for both the CD and vinyl, in reference again to the Nardwuar interview and the two different covers released. This album started an obsession for me. I just love The Strokes’ sound. They have a six-album discography (plus an EP) and I really do love them all. To varying levels of course. They’re all short and flow beautifully (First Impressions of Earth is a bit of an outlier at 52 mins). They can do no wrong in my books. Like all music, they’re an acquired taste. Interested to see the reviews on this one. I’m hoping the boys loved it and they roll right into Room On Fire cause man, what a follow up! 

Overall Rating – 9.7/10

Favourite Song – Someday 

ROZ

The titular track, Is This It, starts us off. Right away the signature sound of the album is on display - I especially love the vocal effects they use (large amounts of distortion and EQ, almost like they’re running Julian's voice through a pipe or tube). For this song in particular, I found the guitar and its chords very reminiscent of Where Is My Mind by Pixies; the bass groove is tight and the drums knock. it’s all great. 

The biggest highlight of The Modern Age was the gritty guitar solo around at the halfway mark. The vocals are so raw and I’m here for it - another strong showing for the album in this one. Next comes Soma, which accurately reflects its name by slowing down the record a bit. While I listen to Julian push every note out of his body with every fiber of his being, it is at this point where I realize that The Strokes are as renowned as they are for very good reason, and that there is a good chance that I will enjoy this entire experience from beginning to end.

As rock is not my bread and butter from a production standpoint, I believe that by now I’ve said what I am able to say from the technical side of these arrangements. I tried my best at that point to turn that part of my brain off and simply enjoy the music (which I can really struggle with at times). While this is my first experience with a Strokes album front to back, Is This It is chock full of popular songs (Someday and Last Nite specifically) that I’ve heard countless times on various radio stations and other mediums. By the time I was prepared to write my review, I already had a handful of personal favorites.

I can ultimately sum up my listening experience like this: This album is fantastic. I honestly had a hard time putting pen to paper on this one as I couldn't find a way to really deconstruct it in a way to find high parts or low parts - it's just very, very solid. This album received high praise by most media outlets and deservedly so.

Overall Rating – 9.1/10

Favourite Song – Hard to Explain (special shout outs to Is This it, Someday, & When It Started) 

LUNDI

Well well well, if it isn’t Reido pushing The Strokes on me once again. After years of saying I just couldn’t get into them, they blew me away with their latest album. I was finally able to appreciate their sound. It’s funny how a band can just one day click for you and suddenly you have a whole discography to tear through. I certainly wasn’t disappointed to rip into Is This It a bunch over the last week. 

Two things before diving into the song list:

• Casablancas voice is just great. So Distinct. 

• Duelling guitars is never a bad idea. It brings the rock alive on this album. 

This album was met widespread with critical acclaim and that’s to no surprise to me. There isn’t a dull moment on it. Even the slow starting title track is brought to life by JC’s vocals. This Modern age kicks things into high gear. Hammond Jr just slaying on the guitar here making it an album standout for me. Soma is another track I feel is brought to life by JC. His changes in tone/pitch really catch the ear throughout the tune. I love Barely Legal like I love young (legal) skin. That’s all I have to say there. 

Two of the next three tracks are in heavy rotation on Sirius so they weren’t knew to me but both Someday and Last Nite are again great rock songs. There’s a reason they’re still playing consistently nearly 20 years later. Sandwiched in between is Alone, Together which has probably my favourite guitar work on the album. The hook is simple and the solo is killer. 

Hard to Explain and Trying Your Luck again are just fantastic rock songs but they get eclipsed on this run of songs by my album favourite New York City Cops. I think the back story here factors in but overall I just love the song. 

Take It Or Leave It. A big fuck you ending. I love it. JC and company close on a high note with this one. 

What an absolute killer 35 minutes. I honestly don’t know what else to say. I have heard stories of them not providing the best live show but consider me in to see them Reido. Great album choice.

Overall Rating – 9.2/10 

Favourite Song – New York City Cops