Is This It The Strokes -

But after re-listening to the vinyl crackle of “The Modern Age” for the hundredth time, I think we’ve been reading the title wrong. It’s not a question of defeat. It’s a dare. To understand Is This It , you have to forget everything you know about 2000s rock. Before The Strokes, the airwaves were clogged with nu-metal angst, post-grunge sincerity, and boy-band pop. Music was either angry, sad, or polished to a mirror shine.

The genius of the album is its . Raphael didn’t mic the drums to sound like thunder; he mic them to sound like cardboard boxes being kicked down a hallway. The bass on “Is This It” (the track) throbs like a subway train passing through a tunnel. Nothing is clean. Everything is slightly out of tune. Is This It The Strokes

Is This It is the antidote. It asks: Do you really need more than 36 minutes to say something true? But after re-listening to the vinyl crackle of