Strokes fans looking for another Is This It? ... shouldn't be, really. Their trademark Guitar Hero riffage is still here, but this record is basically the story of "garage rockers discover the synthesizer"... and the 80s by association. For a band that built Is This It?'s title track on two notes, there's certainly a lot going on here. It's straight ahead rock at its core, with mumbly punky this-side-of-Jim-Morrison vox courtesy Julian Casablancas, whose solo record (Phrazes for the Young) sounds a lot like this one. Incredibly produced, the new Strokes sound manages to come off as both precise and careless. They sound bored of it all, and that's always been part of their charm.

try: 3, 6, 4, 1
no FCCs

*1. slinky. slightly caribbeanish 'land down under' island vibe. a sort of irresistible riff surfaces midway in.
2. boppy, playful piercing electric and zoomy riffage. creamy, reachy chorus. "so long my friend / i'll wait for you", etc.
*3. it's... the cars! moody fuzzy new wave tinged classic rock. rudder bass, hilarious elvisy vocal stylings. seriously, what decade did this crawl out of?
*4. dark hard minor. fast, sharp, digital. krautish. depeche mode meets girls against boys. surprisingly well-done layered harmonies.
5. ~6 sec gear up. beamy carefree drawly chorus, funk verses hella inspired by the chili peppers.
*6. start with: the 80s. add: fog machine. smooth, vibey. nice clean descending blip-bass verses, swirly melty chorus. hells yeah.
7. slight bossa nova (well, whatever) intro. uber-exposed low vox over spare bells, segues into whispery layering a la paul mccartney or the shins. no drums.
8. bright, sunny, pleasant. strutty singing electric. kinda throwaway.
9. rapid angular guitar. jagged triplet beat. long held notes and chord moves that border on scale studies.
10. melts smooth jazz synth, misty keys, zoomy electric guitar, and crackly vox weirdly reminiscent of the manics.