Electricityscape

Sometime in the summer of 2001, I was at a friend's house. Okay, a few friends lived there. It was Eddie and Chuck from the Clone Defects (now of the Valentinos). They lived downstairs from Tim Vulgar (former singer of Clone Defects, currently of Human Eye) in a house in Hamtramck, MI.

They were excitedly playing a 45 for me over and over and over again. They couldn't get enough of it. It was the first record from The Strokes.

Months later, the Clone Defects went on tour, and I went with them. By that time, they found out the real backgrounds of their Velvet Underground wannabes. They found out that the singer Julian Casablancas as well as several of the others came from wealthy families. I guess the guys expected that The Strokes were a bunch of Lower East Side street urchins playing their lazy punk rock a la Television. Of course, they also forgot that the Lower East Side isn't the shithole it once was, either. Just like Times Square, it's been rehabbed into something family-friendly.

Either way, the guys in the band claimed to no longer give a shit, because they wanted their rock n roll to really have something behind it. Or at least, they didn't believe that rich kids were capable of writing good pop hooks with feeling. Whatever. While on that trip, I bought the import release of "Is This It?", which wouldn't be released domestically for another two months. I loved it, listened to it incessantly. And I was quite proud that my version of the album had the track "New York City Cops," which was cut from the domestic release because 9/11 happened soon after my trip to NYC and shortly before the American release. It's a really freakin' good song. I understand why it was cut, but you're missin' out if you haven't heard it.

So, the next album came out to little fanfare. I read somewhere that it was more of the same and not as exciting as the first. Little attention was paid by me. But then some friends were going to see the band at the State Theatre. I had no interest in that show, I had interest in one of the friends. So I got ahold of my contact from the State, and got into the show. Thank baby Jesus I didn't pay to get into that crapfest. Seriously, it was like the band were just standing there mimicking, and someone in the sound booth hit 'play' on a DAT machine. So boring, so pointless.

But then the third album came out recently..."First Impressions of Earth." A trusted friend told me it was actually pretty good and different. I was hesitant, but then it showed up in the mail. Some people send me stuff to post reviews in hopes that you'll buy it or at the very least generate some buzz. It was quite convenient, considering I was about to buy the CD.

I'm really impressed. Seriously. I've read some really crappy and some really indifferent reviews of this record. One thing that every reviewer seems to be able to agree on is that this is something different for the band. They aren't just dipping their toes in the cold water, they jumped right the fuck in.

The negative parts of other reviews note that they know Casablancas is capable of writing a solid pop hook, but they don't hear the hooks here. One writer went so far as to say he's listened to it for three hours, and still can't remember any lyrics. I have a hard time believing that. Admittedly, it's a little different. It isn't hooky, but it's well-executed.

In fact, unlike the first two records, the production is very tight. There's no pop sheen, but everything sounds right. I didn't notice on the other two records, but on this one it's noted that all words and music are by Julian Casablancas. That's interesting, because this album could easily be noted as being performed by 'Julian & the Strokes'. There are very few backing vocals, and you can tell it's his show. Overall, it's a solid record with some truly interesting departures from their previous sound. The Velvet Underground meets Television effect is gone. The Strokes have proven that they are a band with staying power.

I highly suggest "First Impressions of Earth."