Is This It - The Strokes

Is This It, the Strokes first, and best, album from 2001. The title track perfectly captures the disappointed nonchalance mood of the album. Who can be bothered including a question mark.

The second track, The Modern Age, was a floor-filler at indie kid parties. It's like the slacker protagonist of the first song finishes work at his shop assistant job, heads out with his friends and after a few drinks, finally feels alive for the first time that day. Crack a beer and turn this up loud and you'll understand.

The hyperbole that accompanied the release of this album was preposterous. It was like it was the first good rock and roll album to be released in five years. NME wet its pants and hailed the Strokes as the 'saviours' of rock and roll (considering Foo Fighters and U2 were dominating with MOR rock at the time, maybe it was fair...). All the hype turned me off at the time and it took a few months of constantly hearing it at parties, barbecues and bars before I finally gave in and bought it. It might not have been the only good rock and roll album released in five years, but it was undoubtedly the best.

The brilliance of the album is that while all the songs sound kind of the same - as if the Strokes only had one effect on their guitars and mic - each of them is still fresh, brilliant and exciting. Today as much as ten years ago (cue panic attack upon realisation that ten years have passed since we first heard this album). We all knew that it was faux-garage rock (because there was no room in the Strokes' parents garages amongst the Mercedes), but the simplicity of the songs and the production gives the album a rawness which feels like authenticity and sincerity.

The worst thing about the hype is that the Strokes became their image. They were the coolest band in the world, and they thought to be cool they had to nonchalant. I saw them at the Big Day Out and they sucked. It wasn't that they were bad, it was that they were so affected. They came onto stage, played theirs songs without moving or speaking, their faces completely expressionless. To play a song as exciting as like Last Nite without moving or expressing any emotion was a crime against the song. Sacrificing their music for their image is part of the reason their subsequent albums have been half-baked and mediocre. Some great songs, no doubt. But if there's only two good songs on the album, don't bother releasing it.

But back to their pinnacle - hot damn Last Nite is a good song. It's cruel though, because it makes you want to dance and there's no way to dance with dignity to that song. Put it on, let your limbs go and you'll know what we mean.

There's such a coherent mood to this album, rocking out while singing "baby, I feel so down, but I don't know why." The cavalier attitude towards the disappointment of modern life is wonderful and uplifting.

New York City Cops is our favourite song. It's degenerate and incendiary, with one of the most seditious sing-a-long choruses ever written. It was initially left off the American release of the album - after September 11, singing that New York City cops ain't so smart was not acceptable. September 11 had some strange impacts on music - the Strokes broke the big time with an album that didn't include its best song; Shihad changed its name to Pacifier and lost most of its fans; while Bruce Springsteen was inspired to make his best album in almost twenty years.

Trying Your Luck is the only weak moment on the album. Skip. Take It Or Leave It is a great closer though. Take it or leave it. No one cares.

The weather's warming up, so invite your friends over for a barbecue, make a Dry Manhattan (2 parts Bourbon; 1 part dry vermouth; dash of bitters; stir over ice; strain and serve with olives) and don't be afraid to put on an album that's ten years old because it's still the perfect rock and roll soundtrack.