Is This It (2001)

I’m not sure why the title of this Strokes album, which comes in the form of a question, has no question mark. Do you know why. Nor can I guess why it holds back the sequencing of my favorite song here, “The Modern Age,” for second position, which means sitting through the beguiling singalong but slow title song to get to the proper kickoff. Once there, all good. This 35-minute raveup (an ideal album length, note) zooms and zips all over the place with crackling energy, vocals recorded through some megaphone filter. It is irresistible 2 guitars bass drums business. Turn it up. The Strokes, most of them NYC natives, hit first in January 2001 with the EP The Modern Age (darn right featuring my favorite), which triggered buzz and a bidding war among labels. This RCA / Rough Trade debut came out that summer. It made them darlings of the moment, though they were never able to follow up so effectively again. Interesting historical fact: the original release had a song called “New York City Cops” that was later replaced with “When It Started” due to sensitivities over the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I’m happy to report the new song does not appear to be about the War on Terror. Nothing from Is This It ever charted mainstream but the Strokes took a shot on three singles—“Hard to Explain,” “Last Nite,” and “Someday”—which did well on indie charts, especially in the UK. “Hard to Explain” arrives as the eighth track on the album, by which time the prevailing groove is well established, so much so that they can insert a relatively lengthy moment of silence and never miss a beat of your bobbing head. Fun anecdote: a young friend of mine (already a Strokes fan) was visiting New York in the summer of 2001 and one day, sitting in a public space, heard some music by the Strokes he did not know. Inquiring about it, he was somewhat viciously scolded because it was the Velvet Underground that was playing. Me, I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all to be confused with the Velvets. Is This It may fairly be reduced to “I’m Waiting for the Man” with extra megaphone filters, but I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. This groove kicks hard and it kicks still. Also, the cover art is spectacularly beautiful.