20th anniversary of the Strokes Is This It. Or close enough, July 30th was the anniversary.
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'Last Nite' (2001)
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Once in a blue moon, there arrives a debut album so charismatic, so controversial, so funny, and so alarmingly human that its harbingers are immediately set apart from their peers, ascending to a higher echelon reserved only for those few who manage to knock the ball straight out of the park on their first swing. That such a release would arrive at the dawn of a new millennium is all the more significant, as it managed to meld the jitteriness and cool indifference of the mid-to-late ’90s and compliment it with the retro-chic fixations of the emergent era, successfully forging a major catalyst for the ultimate rock and roll revival.
The Strokes’ 2001-released debut album, Is This It, is unique, in that it serves as a comprehensive introduction to the up-and-coming New York City quartet’s stylish blend of post-punk, new garage rock, and Britpop-inspired indie rock, although their specific influences are sometimes difficult to pin down, with the group denying familiarity with Television, but declaring themselves Ramones and Velvet Underground devotees. The latter serve as an obvious forebearer to the raw, spasmodic electricity of Is This It, although frontman Julian Casablancas streetwise musings on youth, sex, and modernity lack the transgressive morbidity of Lou Reed’s enduring backstreet verse. Still, The Strokes cannot be dismissed as yet another spawn of pretentious, run-of-the-mill, East Coast hipsterdom, as their education runs far deeper than that of mere nostalgia-chic. The raw defiance shared between guitarists Albert Hammond, Jr. and Nick Valensi electrifies each track, while Nikolai Fraiture’s bass lines and Fabrizio Moretti’s percussion form a melodic curtain around Casablancas’ deadpan vocal deliveries, often bringing to mind a range of artists, such as Iggy Pop and Cyndi Lauper, all closely studied by the band. The Strokes are musical savants, the world quickly realized, immediately setting themselves apart from their eager peers as the fountainheads of the popular culture phenomenon that is Is This It. — Under The Radar
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'The Modern Age' (2001)
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Yet if the Strokes resembled the Velvet Underground in sound and public stature, they also mirrored the group’s outsized influence. Despite failing to become the biggest band in the world, they became maybe the most widely imitated, launching a widespread aesthetic overhaul in 21st century rock music that extended to both sound and visual presentation. It’s become cliché to compare Is This It‘s impact to Nevermind‘s alternative rock big bang, but there are not many more fitting parallels for the shockwaves this record sent through modern rock music — to say nothing of its affect on fashion, questionable haircuts like mine included. The concept of hipster fashion as we know it can arguably be traced back to these guys; as Nelson put it, “After the Strokes, it was all skinny jeans and messy long hair and sharp blazers and $5 Wayfarers knockoffs and beat-up German army jackets.” — Stereogum
The Stereogum retrospective is a good read. It captures the zeitgeist of the time.
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'Someday' (2001)
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WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Kenan Thompson, Regina Hall, the Killers, guest host Sarah Silverman
Jimmy Fallon: Kit Harington, Miranda Cosgrove, Duran Duran
Stephen Colbert: Jennifer Hudson
Seth Meyers: Ethan Hawke, Jodie Comer
James Corden: Andrew Rannells, All Time Low (R 5/25/21)
SPOILER WARNING
A late night gathering for non serious palaver that does not speak of that night’s show. Posting a spoiler will get you brollywhacked. You don’t want that to happen to you. It's a fate worse than a fate worse than death.
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the Darling Buds 'It Makes No Difference’ (1991)
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Duran Duran ‘Planet Earth’ (1981)
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LAST WEEK’S POLL: HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?
Another day, another donut 15% 2 votes
Awesomesauce 15% 2 votes
Dopamine, it's not just for breakfast anymore 15% 2 votes
I need a drink 38% 5 votes
Rainbows and lollipops 0% 0 votes
Something else 15% 2 votes
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