The Strokes are rock stars in the purest sense: They just want to get drunk and hit on hot girls, all with an apathetic malaise.
Their new album, "Room On Fire" is the highly anticipated follow-up to "Is This It," a rare album that rode critical buzz into popular acclaim. While "Room on Fire" displays mild progress in their artistic ability, it isn't quite the garage-rock masterpiece of their last album.
One area the album shows improvement in, however, is Julian Casablancas' writing ability.
Almost every song on the album deals with love, hooking up, heartbreak -- or all of the above. On "Meet Me In the Bathroom," Casablancas sings about "two friends in lust," yet he also says, "You trained me how not to love/After you showed me what it was."
You might think The Strokes would get grand ideas from all the hype they got when they became the "saviors of Rock," but these guys are basically the Lebron James of new rock, and like King James they keep it under control.
From the opening words of "What Ever Happened," the Strokes define their new philosophy:"I wanna be forgotten, /And I don't wanna be reminded." Like Nirvana, they shun the crown placed on their heads as the kings of rock. They recognize the attention the critics have given them, and reply by producing an album they would have made regardless of the spotlight. They refuse to give in, and after this first track, they never touch the subject again. The rest of the album devotes itself to the questions that arise from their most important fascination: the opposite sex.
On "Automatic Stop," the Strokes sound heartbroken and bitter about it. "Wait, I'm gonna give it a break/I'm not your friend/I never was," Casablancas croons in his disinterested rasp.Soaked in sarcasm, they constantly remind themselves of the "so many fish there in the sea," but like all attempts to consol broken heart, the effort is as useless as it is clichéd.
Any youth should relate to "12:51," one of the album's strongest songs. The title of the song relates to that time of night that your cell phone rings, and your old flame is calling unexpectedly: Why would she possibly call you this late, you might ask?The Strokes have the answer over Albert Hammonds Cars-influenced riff, "We could go and get 40s/F--- goin' to that party/Oh really your folks are away now?/Alright you convinced me." The track recalls the strengths that made "Is This It" so stellar -- only two and half minutes long but tightly wound and full of passion.
The track's minimalism reflects the over-arching style of the album, as well as the attitude towards life. What is the sense of waiting for anything besides immediate gratification?Go after that which your heart desires, and pursue it to its absolute end.
"Under control" displays a laid back feel that seems to express the Strokes' slacker attitude. "I don't want to change your mind/I don't want to change the world/I just want to watch it go by."Although the band is from New York City, the city that has been the epicenter of a new political struggle in the world against terrorism, they seem almost withdrawn from it.It's as though everything happening in the world has only encouraged them not to care.
The Stokes look as though they might fit in next to Donna and Eric on "That 70s Show," only a lot dirtier. They all have long dark hair that is entirely unkempt. In their pictures they look like rock stars should look: They wear cool vintage t-shirts (the bass player's shirt has the quote "War is peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength"), weird bracelets on their wrists, old tweed and denim jackets and they chain smoke cigarettes from dusk till dawn.
All in all, their "Room on Fire" is a success, it's not an instant classic, but it's worthwhile.It doesn't change anything about the formula that made their last album so good, yet it lacks the handful of especially great songs that made "Is This It" essential. They keep their style, they keep their cool and they keep their place as the new face of rock n' roll. In a music scene full of stale pop and rap prepackaged products, "Room on Fire" is still the freshest and coolest new album no matter, or perhaps because of, what minor flaws it has.
Why are the Strokes so cool? Because they rock.
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