Is This It Review

"Is This It" is the debut album from New York rockers The Strokes.  The debut album was shrouded in anticipation and hype that the band didn't really need.  The album speaks for itself.  The album had success in the US as well as internationally; charting as high as number 2 on the UK albums chart.  The medley of guitars, Julian's cutting edge vocals, and the plethora of influences you can feel in this album guide their debut into a new generation of rock featuring themselves at the forefront of it.

Garage rock meets alternative on this album as this feels ever so...New York.  You can hear The Ramones, you can hear The Velvet Underground, its all an excellent blend of influences and sounds that encapsulate this record, but The Strokes aren't copycats.  The band carried the torch for a new age of rockers at the dawn of the millennium with an incredible amount of charisma and melodic pop songs that stand on their own two feet.  Song such as "Someday" and "Last Nite" hit you hard, but not to the point of annihilation.  Casablancas wants you to hear and feel every word coming out of his mouth, and the guitar duo of Albert Hammond Jr and Nick Valensi cohesively stick to their strengths and their guitar styles sync up perfectly.

Another endearing quality to this album is that it doesn't feel overproduced.  The Strokes basically said "Here you go!" as the garage rock production is a refreshing quality for "Is This It".  The album doesn't overstay it's welcome either.  "Is This It" is a whopping 36 minutes and 28 seconds in length and even though you may want more tracks on this album, this is The Strokes at their finest and any other filler tracks wouldn't of helped their debut any bit.  Other notable tracks include "Hard To Explain", "The Modern Age", and "Take It Or Leave It".

Final Summary:

The Strokes got a plate and filled it to it's necessary capacity.  They found a fine balance between their own style and making sure their influences were heard through and through.  The production doesn't wow you but that is one of the things magical about "Is This It", it doesn't have to.  The combined effort from each and every musician in The Strokes pulled together a nearly perfect first album for a band being put under the microscope from many critics; as they were being compared to all-time great bands like The Rolling Stones or The Ramones.  But all in all, its current, its retro, its simply The Strokes.

Rating: 9.0/10