THE STROKES – Is This It (Part 2 of 2)

Zach and Marites wrap up the crate-digging dialectic celebrating the ten-year anniversary of The Strokes’ album Is This It. As a bonus, we’ll hook you up with all the tracks on the tribute album STROKED including covers from some AudioVole favorites like Chelsea Wolfe and Real Estate. Come on, it’s Monday. Let’s get sentimental.

The Strokes – “Barely Legal”

From: Zach Evans
To: Marites Velasquez 

Marites,

I think you definitely hit on something when you say that Is This It is an album of memorable moments rather than memorable songs (with the obvious exception of “Last Nite”). As I’ve been re-listening to the album this week, my notes are all about the little things that jump out from each track and tickle my eardrums for a fleeting moment.

In “The Modern Age,” Julian Casablancas’ bluesy snarl as he sings “don’t want you here right now, let me go” – followed by a high pitched “oooo!” worthy of James Brown – gives me shivers. The bouncy bass line in the first track, “Is This It,” makes me want to pull my Ibanez Roadstar II out from under my bed and start playing again. In “Take It Or Leave It” and a few other songs on the album, a clean guitar line mirrors the heavily distorted vocal line, reversing the usual levels of distortion that we might expect in rock music. These moments add up to an album that I still genuinely enjoy listening to. While a significant amount of music that I purchased in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s is difficult to listen to now because it sounds dated, that is not the case for Is This It which has a very classic sound.

But, as you asked, are a wealth of little musical hooks enough to elevate this album to the level of “most important rock album in the last decade” if we ignore the historical context? To be honest, if you asked me to make a list of the best rock albums of the last decade, I’m not certain this would make it into my top 50. It’s a good listen and it has held up well over the years, but a sound that seemed almost revolutionary back in 2001 seems pretty tame in the exploding, eclectic indie rock scene of today.

So perhaps this album was more important for what it did than what it was. It’s telling that The Strokes weren’t ever able capitalize on their success in later albums, even Room On Fire, which ripped off their own sound a year after every other band had. But even if the general public has long since forgotten about The Strokes, I suspect that crate-digging young musicians of the future will pull out Is This It and find the same sort of joy in listening to it that we once did.

“Tables, they turn sometimes.”
Zach

Real Estate – “Barely Legal (The Strokes Cover)”

From: Marites Velasquez
To: Zach Evans

Hi Zach,

Yeah, that just about sums it up. Genre defining? Yes. It set the stage for bands to come. Best of the decade? Depends. You hit the nail on the head for saying that perhaps it was “more important for what it did than what it was.” It’ll be interesting to see what album or band out now will define the next ten years.

“I say the right things, but act the wrong way,”
Marites

Get Is This It already!
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Peter Bjorn & John – “Is This It (The Strokes Cover)”

Chelsea Wolfe – “The Modern Age (The Strokes Cover)”

Owen Pallett – “Hard To Explain (The Strokes Cover)”

Heems –  “New York City Cops (The Strokes Cover)”

Deradoorian – “Trying Your Luck (The Strokes Cover)”

Computer Magic – “Take It Or Leave It (The Strokes Cover)”