The Strokes’ newest album, Room on Fire, will pleasantly take you back two years to the release of their debut album, Is This It. These five sexy, skinny New Yorkers had help from Radiohead’s producer Nigel Godrich to add a splash of color to their retro yet modernly arranged music.
Julian Casablancas’ vocals begin the band’s return with blatantly honest lyrics on “What Ever Happened?” The band gears up, then we quickly enter the familiar territory that everyone knows as The Strokes.
Since their release of Is This It in 2001, bands have tried to imitate the sound, but nobody has succeeded in creating the intriguing, monotonous, punk rock ‘n’ roll of The Strokes.
“Reptilia” follows with a “Get on the treadmill” tempo. It serves as a lighter to fire you up to hear the rest of this extraordinary album.
The Strokes always seem to change the direction of their tunes right before you get sick of them.
The Strokes first single off Room On Fire, “12:51” is a clappable tune designed for boogying. The tune is very comparable to “New York City Cops” and “Last Nite” from their debut.
“Automatic Stop” enters new territory for The Strokes. They seem to keep their own style while adding a slight reggae feel. They broke their unique sound down and slowed it up a bit to cross new barriers. Delightful.
“Between Love and Hate” is a highlight that will keep you bouncing to the always-indistinguishable lyrics of The Strokes. The fact that Julian won’t publicly speak about the lyrics doesn’t help clarify. The line “I never needed anybody” is repeated to suggest a broken relationship complex that everyone should relate to.
Actually, pain, bitter relationships and the feelings that we experience before everything goes wrong triggers most of the album’s lyrics. “I’m sick of you and that’s the way it is,” Julian sings.
Julian’s fuzzy lyrics are sometimes hard to decipher over the guitar and bass distortion. “The End has no End” is hauntingly similar to ” The Modern Age” from their previous record. It is ironically placed before the albums final track, “I Can’t Win.”
Room On Fire is definitely an Is This It part two, but to Strokes fans, there’s nothing wrong with that-they’re selling out venues all over the world. And sorry to the fans that didn’t know they are playing this Sunday night in Atlanta. Yep, the Tabernacle is sold out.