The Strokes - Is This It

I've read reviews about how you should forget the hype around The Strokes and just think of them as a rock band, which is correct, you should. I've also read countless reviews where they are compared to the Velvet Underground and the like, which also could be correct. However, have I really read a review where they just talk about the music? Not too many. So, that's what I'm going to talk about damn it! The Strokes are a rock band, and damn good one. From the title track with the great bassline, 'Is This It', they bring earnest rock 'n roll without diluting it with electronics, bleeps, or blops. Fabrizio Moretti' drums don't get flashy he just lays down a beat and sticks it with such fervor it's startling. Nikolai Fraiture plays some of the best rock bass I've heard since Lisa Umbarger, from the late, great Toadies. Nick Valensi and John Hammond Jr. play off each other like good guitarists, you got a rhythm you got a lead (i.e. 'Soma', 'Trying Your Luck', and the notorious 'Last Nite'). They aren't making crazy noises and drenching their sound with effects, a little fuzz (or a lot of fuzz) and they're good. What about guitar solos, what are those? Well, they got those too, short and sweet. To round it off, while he might sound like Lou Reed, Julian Casablancas delivers his lines with the appropriate emotion and zeal; you feel every word he says the way you're supposed to. My favorite lines (in context) have to be: "I'm working so I wont have to try so hard / Tables they turn sometimes, oh someday / I ain't wasting no more time" and "We shared some ideas / All obsessed with fate / Ways we're all the same / I don't see it that way". I couldn't recommend a more appropriate album for fans of rock, the way it used to be. It's a great album and it's as simple as that. Don't expect them to change the world though, just enjoy it. Relax. [www.thestrokes.com]