Assault Challenge Number 2: The Strokes
The Challenge
Oswald Hobbes has pulled another rabbit out of his hat and come up with a new challenge for me, “Third World” Timmy. Somehow, I’m supposed to listen to all of The Strokes albums, and miraculously start liking them.
Okay… challenge accepted. Even though I remember saying that I’d never like a band that has songs consisting of the same four notes over and over again–and that was when I was a 14 year old.
Opening Statement
I had no idea when I was 14 years old that I’d be rehashing every little thing I criticized Oswald for in high school. At the time I didn’t even know as much about music as Oswald did about Bruce Willis.
With such an inferior intellect, the only defense you have at 14 is to find things that are easy to tease them about–in this particular instance, this was The Strokes. It was a surefire way to make his blood boil, and in all honesty I didn’t care about The Strokes. As far as I was concerned at the time, The Strokes was a bunch of Ashton Kutcher look-a-likes playing the same beats over and over again to over-produced background vocals that sounded like they were ran over by a car.
The Evidence
That said, even before the Assault Challenge from Oswald The Strokes had actually become more favorable to me musically over the years as I’ve grown up. It all started back when Rock Band came out and I started playing along with the songs that I truly started to become more of a fan of theirs. The Strokes were merely the vehicle to which I could rag on Oswald’s high school musical tastes. At the time in high school, my favorite band was Thrice, followed by Slipknot. So you kinda see why I would choose The Strokes as my imminent punching bag.
Alas, I should not have thrown stones from my heavy metal glass house.
Link opens in iTunes
Is This It (2001)
Is This It introduces us to what I’ll call repetitive rock™–a genre that I believe The Strokes are the key inventors of, or at the very least brought it to the mainstream in this era. It starts off kind of slow, but finishes strong, particularly with, “Take It or Leave It.”
My initial reaction to most of the songs are indifference, but when you actually “open up the ears,” as Oswald likes to say, you can really feel the intensity in Julien Casablanca’s vocals that are somewhat muted by the mundane guitar riffs and drum beats. The mismatch makes for an interesting combo, and I can’t help but tap my toes as I listen.
“Last Nite” is the other song you’ve heard from The Strokes that was commercialized by MTV–thanks for that. Good song though, nonetheless.
Link opens in iTunes
Room on Fire (2003)
Room On Fire is the sophomore release where I finally started to warm up to them as a more feasible band to listen to in my car without feeling like I needed to have long shaggy hair and tight pants to match.
Several of the songs on this album including Reptillia, and Automatic Stop are on the regular rotation to which I rock out to everyday.
First Impressions of Earth (2006)
Unfortunately, First Impressions of Earth took a step in the opposite direction for me. Of the three albums I like this one second to Room on Fire. While the music overall seems to have progressed to be a bit more well rounded, Casablancas’ singing is a bit too intense, and comes off as more of whaling against the music rather than with it, and I found it quite hard to listen to at times–”15 Minutes” beind a prime suspect of this.
Link opens in iTunes
This isn’t to say the entire album is a wash–there are some hidden gems throughout including, “Red Light,”and “Heart In A Cage.”
The Verdict
I’m willing to admit that when I was 14 I was wrong. The Strokes are actually an alright band that I would definitely pay $25 to see in concert, and if someone asked, I’d say I was a fan.
Under no circumstances are you going to find me wearing a Strokes t-shirt anytime soon like my man Shia Lebouef, but I’m more than happy to pop in a Strokes mix tape at my next keg party here at the Assault HQ. It’s a surefire crowd pleaser, and Oswald Hobbes would no doubt sing his ass off on the mic if it were to come up in a Rock Band ensemble set list–to the point of embarrassment.
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About the Author
Tim is the co-owner of Assault, and tends to think he can party twice as hard as anyone. Follow him on twitter @assaultEmail this Author | All posts by tim
I hope they hurry up with the new album and get touring its been too long. Check out the progression of Indie music over the last decade and how The Strokes played their part here http://bit.ly/7e2SfY some really great bands are featured.
[...] to AV Club (and numerous other blogs), there’s a chance the Strokes will perform at Grant Park this year. Also possibly playing: Green Day, Lady Gaga, the recently(and [...]