The Strokes “Is This It” (Best of the Decade)
Effortlessly making New York City vital again in the music world—as well as ushering in waves of imitators and detractors—the Strokes simply made one of the best no-frills rock ‘n roll records of the decade without seeming to care too much about it. Driven along by irresistible riffs and propulsive drums, as well as lead singer Julian Casablancas nonchalant but cocksure vocals, Is This It set a clear template for straightforward and accessible rock records in the Aughts that many tried to replicate, but few were ever able to match (including the Strokes themselves). The band so easily captured what life was like for kids in the city simply because they were kids in the city (albeit ones with privilege and easy access to studio time), and the album has a vitality and passion that comes through on each and every song.
“The Modern Age” chugs along relentlessly (though not nearly as raw and raucous as the version on the EP of the same name), providing the band with a credo of sorts that fans seemed to identify with both the band and the subsequent NY sound that the Strokes helped fashion: “Work hard and say it’s easy, do it just to please me.” The album is a snapshot of carefree, uninhibited times that would change drastically after 9/11 (forcing the band to remove the incendiary “New York City Cops” featured on the UK release from the subsequent US edition of the album), but the songs have a fire and an energy to them that naturally drew people in, if only to be part of the party. The album is just packed with absolutely ace singles like “Hard To Explain, “Someday” and “Last Nite” that buzzed with equal parts of both spirit and cool. And when those type of confident songs are combined with the streetwise, haphazard fashion of the band, a scene was crafted seemingly overnight. And while the heights of that scene often didn’t reach quite as high as Is This It, the music itself was a clear slice of what life in New York City was like at that particular moment in time, and certainly gave the kids a soundtrack to their escapades no matter where they were getting down.