Albums

< The Strokes
First Impressions Of Earth
words by Robert Coyne

A lot of fuss has been made about the long awaited return of these five New Yorkers and do you know what we say? Too bloody right! Ever so occasionally a band match the hype that precedes them and that time is now.

When word got out about the completion of The Strokes third LP, threatened Cribs fans kicked up a stink about Julian Casablancas and Co. no longer being relevant. To those doubters, we’d like to remind you that without The Strokes you’d probably still be listening to Artful Dodger so show some damn respect, regardless of your local scenesters being “Soooo over The Strokes.”

After the Brit Pop fall out, ‘Is This It’ changed our worlds once again. ‘Room On Fire’ was always going to find it hard to live up to its expectations, which in turn over shadowed its shining moments such as ‘I Can’t Win’ and ‘Under Control’. And so we arrive at ‘First Impressions Of Earth’.

Of their success, Albert Hammond Jr. has rightly stated, “The Strokes have had all the credibility they need for a lifetime” and his hints at a dramatic change in the bands direction have all rung true. Ultimately, ‘First Impressions…’ will separate those who got into The Strokes because they felt they had to from those who truly believed (and still believe) in what the band are all about; adamant rock ‘n’ roll that answers only to its creators. Because this record is as much a departure from previous offerings as is possible.

But make no mistake; what we have here is still very much a Strokes record. Sensitive to our apprehension, the band ease us into their new sound with plenty of good old Strokes tricks that we know and love. Julian still growls in his deepest trademark fashion and Nick Valensi forever throws in spaghetti lead guitar hooks to make us feel at home.

And so, having passed the optimistic opener of ‘You Only Live Once’ – think understated romanced verses a smiling U2 chorus – and the already favourite rumbling single, ‘Juicebox’, we arrive at the street walking ‘Heart In A Cage’ and contradicting ‘Razorblade’ – basically Barry Manilow’s, ‘Mandy’, but a thousand times better. And alas, our nerves evaporate. This is more or less the same old Strokes… great.

But once we hit the drum-less, downbeat poem, ‘Ask Me Anything’, we are no longer on planet ‘Last Night’. The sheer nonsense of Casablancas telling us, “Don’t be a coconut” is a head scratcher for sure and the looping sea-sick synth riff would perhaps be more at home on an experimental film soundtrack but somehow the sincerity of what we can’t even analyse, seems to work.

Further into the abyss is ‘Fear Of Sleep’ with its whispered chorus that erupts into an inaudible primal scream. Along with the almost monotonous and drunk, ‘Evening Sun’, it’s one of those album tracks that you have to work hard at but ends up being a favourite once you’ve over played the radio hits.

And that’s pretty much the point of ‘First Impressions…’ It’s a journey. An unclear journey perhaps and certainly not one as straight forward or immediately enjoyable as ‘Is This It’, but a ride through influences and experiments that you thought you’d never like in the slightest, but actually, you do.

Originally The Strokes were coolest band in modern rock ‘n’ roll. Today, they are also the bravest. ‘First Impressions Of Earth’ is the sound of a great band that refuse to stand still and it should be applauded.

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