Customer Reviews

The Modern Age ep

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For once the reality lives up to the hype. Friends in Sydney have been raving about these guys for a while and I was fortunate enough to receive an Australian copy of their full-length debut CD (it was released there before anywhere else in the world) and it's been on rotation for weeks. This is R'n'R at its best. There are elements of Velvet Underground, Pavement, Dandy Warhols and mid-'70s CBGBs rock. This LP deserves to be huge in a world saturated with safe, tame music. By the way, buy the UK version on Amazon UK as it has the original cover art, not the wimpy US art (what was the record company thinking?). This CD is the most essential purchase of 2001!!

Sure, it sounds a bit like something from mid-70's New York. Closer to Iggy than the Velvets (nothing sounds like the Velvets without a viola), and the sound isn't ENTIRELY original.

BUT, with popular music much like it is today, we NEED music like this. To remind of us of the fact that all the good music isn't just from 25 years ago or whatever - that there are people out there still with the balls to put this sort of stuff out there. The only criticisim I've heard of The Strokes is their lack of originality. It's ROCK, for godssake! It isn't meant to be entirely original - it's just meant to kick butt and soundtrack the drinking sessions.

Better than pop.

OK well these are early recordings DIFFERENT TO THE VERSIONS FO THE SONGS ON IS THIS IT. THey are not quite as clean as the versions on is this it, still good though. Defanatly for teh fans. Heres how they difer form the is this it versions.

The modern age - lyrics changes, less of a solo and WAY faster.

Last Night - more lyric changes.

Barely legal - not as catchy as on is this it but there are lots of lyric changes and i dont know why it was taken out for is this it but barely legal here has one mad solo!!! Awsome stuff. Although it doesnt have the little guitar picking bits that happen between verses and before the last chorus on is this it.

With the purchase of my third Strokes CD in the last month, I guess it's official...I'm a fan. Which of course comes from the word "fanatic," defined by Websters as, "unreasonably enthusiastic; overly zealous," and, "a person whose extreme zeal...etc., goes beyond what is reasonable." Hell, I've even sent in a letter to join the Fan Club! I try and explain to my friends, and myself, why a 32 year-old man would get so jazzed about The Strokes, or any new band for that matter. And the only thing I can come up with is that it feels like there just hasn't been anything worth listening to for the longest time. The Strokes simply kick butt, with simple, fast rock n' roll. This EP is a lot of fun. The stripped down, early versions of these three tracks give a brief peak into the band's development over their brief career. Although I don't necessarily prefer these versions over the ones on IS THIS IT, I do like some of the lyrics better. The production and the timing of the band have greatly improved from the raw talent and energy displayed on this EP. Let's all hope they don't get destroyed by the hype, or worse yet, self-destruct from their own vices or egos. Keep it up Strokes.

Everyone talks about the VU influence, but it's apparent only on the first cut. There's much more going on here. The singer is much more of a crooner than Lou Reed, sometimes evoking Jim Morrison, but more often Ian MacCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen). And the Bunnymen influence is strong on tracks 1 & 3. Also, track #2 sounds nothing like VU, but more like the Jam. Influences aside, this is very energetic, punk-inflected pop music with great hooks, the kind that makes you want to jump up and down with the headphones blasting at about 80.

The Strokes have been hyped up in the music press recently so I was a bit leary to hear them. But to my surprise, I really dig them! The music is a nice contrast of rough-sounding rock with sweetly appealing melodic vocals. In a weird but nice way, Casablanca's voice reminds me of Jim Morrison's crooning. In addition, I'm so happy The Strokes have come along to play great music for us hapless folk being drowned in manufactured pop and pitifully boring "neu metal". They prove that rock is thankfully not dead! I'd recommend this to anyone who'd like to hear a new spin on an old punk sound.

Driving hooks very reminiscient of the NY 76-77 sound, spun vocals like a Lou Reed mantra, and witty lyrics make this band a fresh return to neo-puritan-rock aesthetics in a time of flash and attitude. Caught them live as well, and I am happy to say the Strokes deliver the same passionate sound on stage as well.

I bought this CD used (the Austrialian Import) at work two weeks ago and it hasn't left my CD player since. When people I know hear it (which is a lot...) they'll compare the Strokes to Television, the Velvet Underground, the Pixies, Weezer, all sorts of bands - some of which make sense, some of which don't. But the bottom line - they're all good bands. And that's just what the Strokes are, a good band. Amzaingly, they are as good as the hype being spewed from Williamsburg (and there's quite a lot of it...). But the Strokes ARE good, they sound like something you've heard before, just in a way you've never quite heard it. Their influences are wide and ranging, but the end result is distinctively New York and distinctively catchy. A great record. Here's to hoping the Strokes stay this good for a long time...

These guys are the saviors of rock? How? Why them? I hear nothing remotley special going on. perhaps seeing them live would change my tune. They do dress snazzy though. But, who cares?

Well, not any more. Pure energy. It's time that music headed back to the basics. If this three song e.p. is not enough, check out their live performance at the nme award show in england.