The Strokes ‘ debut album had perhaps my favourite title of all time. The lack of a question-mark lulled me into thinking that this was the typical boast of the Next Big Thing: an armadillo-trousered, bigger-than-Jesus, swaggering assertion of a title – “THIS IS IT“.
Of course, the New York five-piece had a little more about them than I was prepared at first to acknowledge, and as I looked closer, those three simple words seemed more like a comment on the hype which soon surrounded the band: Is This It, they ask, but clearly have no interest in the answer. The lo-fi sound and no-frills production was almost daring at the time, and turned out to be exactly what the bloated rock world needed – proof that a band didn’t need nine months in a studio with the Berlin Philharmonic to make a record. But the real attraction was the attitude: they just played, they let the music do the talking, and in the words of their album-closer, their message to critics was very much Take It Or Leave It .
So, two years on, what has changed? Not much, but that’s a good thing. In fact, The Strokes are carrying on from pretty much where they left off. The worries of Take It Or Leave It (‘He’s gonna let you down / He’s gonna let you down / He’s gonna break your back for a chance / He’s gonna steal your friends if he can’) are mirrored in Room On Fire ‘s opener, What Ever Happened? (‘Oh that’s an ending that I can’t write / Cos I’ve got you to let me down’), and the second track Reptilia (‘So take this, now leave me’).
The words are the same (bad sex and male commitment anxieties), and the lyrics can still wander between vacuity and power within a single verse (as in Meet Me In The Bathroom : ‘Never was on time / Yes, I once was mine / Well, that was long ago / And darling, I don’t mind.’ but then: ‘Yeah, we were just two friends in lust / And baby, that just don’t mean much / You trained me not to love / After you showed me what it was’), but the emphases are different, and the music has somehow progressed. The sound on this album is richer and less raw, which is perhaps almost a shame. Ok, it isn’t exactly Absolution, production-wise; it’s just that it doesn’t sound like a live album any more, and there’s nothing quite like Last Nite on it. The simple, repetitive basslines and guitar riffs are still very much in evidence however, and serve to make most of the songs catchy as hell, especially first single 12:51 and You Talk Way Too Much.
Is it samey? Yes. God yes. But personally I wouldn’t have it any other way. From the sound of the closing track, I Can’t Win , the band don’t expect to be loved by everyone – ‘“Cool it / We won’t take that shit” / “Good try / We don’t like it”’ – but their fans will be pleased with their final words: ‘Hold on, / Yes, I’ll be right back.’ E.Kelly
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