More about: The Strokes

The Strokes’ debut album is truly something to behold. The mixture of raise-the-roof indie, real life lyrics and superb instrumentation combine for what is a really special, once in a generation album. 

The record opens with ‘Is This It’, a title track that is a lo-fi tone setter for the album as a whole: Casablancas draws you into his world of melancholy modern life with such eloquent turns of phrase. The track draws out only for you to be hit fully by ‘The Modern Age’: dueling guitars are prominent throughout the record, playing mismatched chords and riffs that combine so well and give the LP such a rounded feeling.

‘Last Nite’ may well be the most important indie track of the last twenty years: the infectious riffs, the groovy bassline and the cool-as-fuck image of Casablancas huieling his mic stand away (in the video for the single) just adds to The Strokes’ mystique. ‘Hard To Explain’ and ‘New York City Cops’ are tracks with all the swagger of a band in top form, they’re sexy, catchy, inescapably good songs, The Strokes do not put a foot wrong on Is This It. 

More about: The Strokes