There’s an adage that goes “It’s not the story, rather how the story is told.” I think about this whenever I listen to The Strokes 2001 debut album, ‘Is This It,’ and that’s where the topic of discussion revolving this album lies for me. Is this album revelatory? Did it spark a sea change or simply follow a previously used idea and build upon it? Is/was their music influential or for a brief moment just trigger another passing trend? I still remember the music atmosphere prior to The Strokes: mainstream guitar rock had moved well past Alternative’s heyday, with “Nu metal”/Rap metal and pop-punk essentially controlling the rock/guitar mainstream. While these subgenres had their moments and relevant acts, the majority of these two landscapes were about fun and testosterone driven and not necessarily seeking any artistic, creative or technical perspective that Alternative acts had previously strived for (not going to lie I was not a fan of either of those subgenres and felt they were destroying guitar driven rock). But towards the turn of the century, especially in the underground NYC music scene there was a new wave of bands, a new generation of young musicians finding and discovering previous NYC acts like The Velvet Underground, Ramones, Television, and Sonic Youth. It’s as if they had just heard The Velvet Underground’s “Rock And Roll”, took Lou Reed’s words to heart being saved by rock and roll, saw Jenny coming and (like the song) proceeded to make like the Velvet’s and completely rock out. For this new generation there wasn’t a band that further personified that line of underground NYC sound more-so than The Strokes, and it was clear they took handling the torch seriously. What I enjoyed about ‘Is This It’ is perfectly encapsulated within the first few moments of the title track; opening with a tape rewind that leads to drums and guitars it’s clear they were moving away from the status quo and abandoning high production and the usage of electronics in their song constructions. The album then pushes on the gas with “The Modern Age” and keeps accelerating to their now famous highlights “Last Nite,” “Hard To Explain” and doesn’t stop until the aptly titled closer “Take It Or Leave It” (by this point the listener will either like it or move on). A lot of people took it and the album sparked a resurgence in post punk, essentially helping spearhead the post punk/garage rock revival of the 00’s of such bands as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Libertines, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, The Hives, TV on the Radio, The Stills and many others (anyone else remember Cheeseburger?). While I really enjoyed the creative output that came from this time period, most of it didn’t really sound original to me per se; it was kids doing their best impressions of Lou Reed, Ian Curtis and Joey Ramone- but the way they told their story I had no problem with that. However, the consequence (or question) I often ponder when I look at this period of music is did this period expand or influence guitar rock to newer heights, or was it just as the genre has been deemed- a “revival” and nothing more? Either way you look at it you can choose to take it or leave it, and it’s one I’ll gladly revisit and reflect on. Thanks for taking the time to stop by, reading and hopefully providing some thoughts on this magnificent album. Take care, be safe and have a great week!
