The Strokes
 

i couldnt find a thread on these guys, i believe that they belong either here or rock (mod move accordingly).

what do you guys really think about these guys. i really dig the sound they put out. i think the vocals are good and the riffs are very enjoyable. i do believe their first album was their best, but both proceeding albums offered something i enjoyed as well.

so what have you, thumbs up or thumbs down?

They've done a couple of half decent singles but everything else about them appalls me. To me they are the embodiment of "it's not what you do , but who you know"

yeah, they're catchy and fun, but on the whole mediocre. One of the reasons i like itunes, i can download the couple fun singles without having to sift through the sludge.

Is This It: Great
Room On Fire: Crap
FIOE: Average.

Thumbs down.

They filled a 'happening' requirement with the first album and the second was a pile of crap apart from the odd tune.

i liked the strokes something different to listen to. enjoyed 'Is This It?' muchly. 'Room On Fire' was a total flop and i was greatly dissapointed. 'First Impressions Of Earth' was quite good and they redeemed themselves in my opinion. they get thumbs up from me :yeah:

"Is this it" had some great songs on it.

"Room on Fire" had a few good songs on it, I vaguely remember a tune called "You Talk Way Too Much" which I loved at the time. "Reptillia" was good as well.

I never bought the last album so I can't judge that.

Thumbs up from me, just for the first album and a couple of songs off the second.

They're pretty cool, I own all their albums but they're not amazing. They can be pretty bland in parts, but songs like 'Take It Or Leave It' are just anthemic!

Room On Fire is pretty crap, but has an odd good song. People underrate the last album a lot. They'd be a good band to see live I think, and Julian Casablancas is rather nice.

Julian Casablancas is one of my favourite vocalists in the whole world and Is This It is one of my favourite albums ever. I like The Strokes and I'm desperate to see them live. :p:

I'm with most people here... the albums have had more fillers on as time has gone by. I'm still looking forward to the next one, though.

So, favourite tracks? Mine are Soma, New York City Cops, Last Nite, 12:51 and Juicebox. Yeah, they choose their singles pretty well.

Ladyface, your postcount has gone up considerably in your short time here. It must just be so good here...

Yeah, this place is amazing. I feel like I've been here forever.

ya your post count is unreal

Thumbs up, Is This It is for sure their best album but there's still stuff worth hearing on the other two. One thing that bugs me is that Julian almost ALWAYS has a distortion type effect on his vocals, it does add to the style of their tunes but it takes away from the already limited technicality of the band. all in all the strokes are awesome, but what isn't awesome is the atrocious sea of followers they spawned: the hives, the vines, franz ferdinand, arctic monkeys, the list goes on and on and on...

i love the strokes... but arctic monkeys > the strokes

not for me, monkeys are really getting a lot of hype tho. i heard they got their instruments for christmas from their parents in like 2004...they kinda bug me how they play up their British-ness too, in the vocals specifically. most brits lose most of their accent when they sing, but now more and more seem to be playing up the accent...thoughts?

I like it when lead singers keep their accents. It's far worse when British bands try to use American accents (just look at Lostprophets and Busted).

I really like/own their first album. My friend used to listen to the second album and it was pretty awful. I haven't heard the newest album, and I don't really have any plans to check it out.

I think the Strokes and Arctic Monkeys are good, but completely different. I'd have to say the Strokes win over AM though.

I agree with everyone else here .. started great and kinda faltered after words.

To be anal though .. this *should* be in Rock .. they technically aren't indie (meaning independent label)

I disagree there (I like the artic monkeys more) ... but just wanted t quote you to say your avatar has made me giggled.

^ Lolz.

And out of all the bands posted in this forum, who the hell is really 'technically indie' nowadays?

most brits don't TRY to sound american at all, there's something biological that happens when many brits sing, they actually can't help but lose their accents. i saw it on a science show some time ago, a viewer wrote in asking why so many british singers sound american and there's a reason involving people's vocal chords as to why their accent disappears. i think the main reason why arctic monkeys sound birtish is because they practically talk instead of sing...they suck, but everyone loves them :P

very good point, i guess the strokes catered to that indie sound originally, but it's silly to try and define 'techically indie' nowadays i think, cuz so many of these indie-sounding bands are on big labels and so many mainstream sounding bands are on indie labels...so wtf

Shame it's all bollocks though.

David Bowie , Syd Barrett , Morrissey , Pete Shelley , Ray Davis , Paul Weller , Robert Smith , Ian Curtis , Damon Albarn , Ian Brown , Billy Childish , Joe Strummer , Brett Anderson , Euros Child , Andy Partridge , Bob Calvert , Gruff Rhys , I could go on & on & on , not one of those vocalists do 'talking singing' and all have recognisable Brit accents.

Yeah, I really don't buy that theory but I'll happily change my mind with sources. :p:

yea the theory might not be great but hey i saw it on tv so i thought i'd mention it. as for all of those artists, i wouldn't dare say they 'talk' instead of sing, and i didnt say that ALL brits lose the accents, just many do. for instance, i have loads of family in britain many of who are trained singers and sing with anything BUT a british accent. the fact is, when many trained british vocalists sing, they sound american whether they try to or not. and many (the ones you mentioned, tho some might not be considered 'trained' vocalists but 'pop' singers) keep their accent. i can understand that if bowie writes a song that rhymes with his english accent he's obviously going to pronouce the words with the accent while he sings. besides, the argument isn't completely homogeneous, you will hear the beatles sounding very american sometimes and very british other times, the same is true for countless UK artists. it still bugs me when 'artists' like arctic monkeys or streets play up the accent to the max

if you want to do some arctic monkey bashin, do it in the arctic monkeys thread. besides, your opinion on arctic monkeys is pretty worthless; they have great music and even better lyrics. i would HOPE that a band sounds like where they come from... whether they shoot for it or not

lets get back on topic

as mentioned in the indie education thread and many other places, indie music goes beyond categorizing a group who is on an independent label.

Good band,
Tad repetitive though.

Could you give an example? I think each of their CDs sounds quite different from eachother, so maybe you are refering to a few specific tracks?

It's mainly repetitive because the lead singer is so monotone.
I have three Strokes albums though, so I still really like them.
=]

The Strokes are an insanely good band. "Is this It?" is classic and it's definitely one of the fifteen best albums of the last 15 or so years. Room on Fire was amazing, but not comparable to "Is this It?" "First Impressions.." was totally different from both albums, but musically much more developed. Of course, the riffs have always been repetitive and simple, but that's what makes The Strokes The Strokes. It's almost electronic, their sound production, but it's all legit, besides the electric drum-set on a few of their tracks.

On a side note, Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes' solo album was also an awesome achievement.

The Strokes
 

Strokes anyone? They been called the savoirs of modern rock. And I really like their sound.

^^love playing this on guitar :)^^

Please use the search function buddy :)

I did! this is the 2nd time this has happened to me. It's embarrasing.

Juicebox is by far the best thing the strokes have ever done and yeah its good but it;s not overly amazing . The strokes disappointed me a lot .

i'm a new fan, how do they disapoint you?

I been listening to them for a while and they are good but they could do so much better...everything they do just dosen't seem enough for me

Maybe and call me crazy... but maybe your asking for too much?

Post-Punk Revivalish never really did it for me either. Maybe you'd dig stuff like Meneguar, Q and Not U and Faraquet. They're similar but quite a bit different.

post punk? I always saw them as a garage revival band.


favorite song

I don't see why they can't be both. Songs like Reptilia with a steady bass and jangly guitar scream post-punk to me. whatever.