For several months, we’ve have been telling anyone willing to listen (which is not too many people) that our faith in rock and roll rests entirely on The Strokes’ upcoming sophomore album, “Room on Fire.”
But this is nothing new. Rock and roll affecianados have long held faith in The Strokes as saviors of rock and roll after the pop-saturated late ninties.
When the band first burst onto the music scene in the Lower East side of New York in 1999, they were immediately touted as the most important rock band of the new millenium, drawing comparisons to The Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones.
After listening to the album, which comes out next Tuesday, we all can safely say that our faith in rock is as sound as ever.
Although “Room on Fire” is not as earth-shattering as their debut LP, “Is This It?”, the album is a very solid follow-up effort.
So many bands fall flat on their faces after trying to change direction musically on a new album (think every Smashing Pumpkins album after “Mellon Collie”), but the Strokes do not fall prey to such a trap. Musically, this album sounds like their first, and we’re not complaining.
“Room on Fire” is a fast-paced collage of moody, driving guitars, scratchy vocals and simple but delectable bass and percussion.
There are 11 songs on the album, and none are more than four minutes, but this is a good thing: every song leaves the listener wanting more, instead of droning on with repetition of a meaningless chorus or labored solo work.
We’d love to highlight some of the outstanding songs on this CD, but to do that we’d have to discuss every track at length.
“12:51,” the album’s first single, rids itself of the usual distortion on lead singer Julian Casablancas’ voice.
Instead, there’s a phase on his voice, giving the song a more futuristic sound to it.
The music video which accompanies it also keeps with the futuristic vibe of the song, with video of the band performing the song with a neon hue to each member, albiet perhaps a bit too similar to the video for Ozma’s “Spending Time on the Borderline.”
A favorite song on the album is undoubtedly the eighth track, “Under Control.” This song sounds like The Righteous Brothers on crank, with a dash of Smokey Robinson.
Other strong tracks include “Automatic Stop,” which offers a taste of Casablanca’s simple, unapoligetic lyrics: “I’m not your friend, I never was.” The song is full of catchy broken rhythm guitar licks layered with a tight melodic lead guitar that carries throughout the album.
The album’s last song “I Can’t Win” is a fast, poppy and unhesitatingly adolescent song and the perfect album closer.
Musically, “Room on Fire” is much more impressive than “Is This It?” Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. obviously took fan’s criticisms of their playing on the band’s debut, because the guitar playing on this album is much more impressive.
The solo for “You Talk Way Too Much” is incredibly melodic and speedy, and the ska-like rhythm in “Automatic Stop” is unorthodox and wonderful.
The most interesting part of the album musically, though, is the riff played in “Between Love and Hate,” which by itself is more complex than their previous works.
But this musical complexity does not come at the sacrifice of the simple, old school rock and roll music which The Strokes are known for.
The songs never become stuffy or boring, and the band never loses focus of making basic, Rolling Stones-inspired tracks.
“Room on Fire,” quite simply, is the kind of music that fans of rock and roll have been waiting for.
In a music landscape littered with a lot of crap (Creed, Sum 41, etc.), efforts by bands like The Strokes and The Flaming Lips are breaths of fresh air in an otherwise stale, fetid and oppressive atmosphere in contemporary music.
Perhaps the best example of The Strokes’ sentiments on their own success is evident on the strong first track of the album, “What Ever Happened” when Casablanca raspily exclaims “I wanna be forgotten.”
The thing is, if The Strokes keep making albums like “Fire,” they won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Leave a Reply