The Strokes

I don't really know how to start this. I'm still asking myself whether I liked The Strokes' new album or not. I know it's good. But I cannot really find a balance in it. When they first came out with "Is This It?," in 2001, audiences and critics praised them for resucitating the almost dead rock scene. Yeah, there are bands like Radiohead and... well, just Radiohead and perhaps Café Tacvba if you're some kind of music savvy. The Strokes opened the door to many bands that attempted to imitate the style, a trend that today places us in this retro-punkish-super pop era that many were affraid of experiencing again. There's nothing to be done. "First Impressions of Earth" works only for those hardcore fans of these New Yorkers. This won't be a record to remember nor a record to forget. It's basic function is to illustrate the process the band is going through: maturity. Lacking form and penetration, Julian Casablancas' lyrics show a personal confrontation with critics. "I've got nothing to say/I've got nothing to say/ I'm no in dismay" says the chorus of "Ask Me Anything." And for moments this would seem quite true. Casablancas denotes a struggle in the attempt of finding a better songwriting, a need that his strong and strident vocals, ironically enough, hide many a time. Guitarrists Alberto Hammond and Nick Valensi deploy their best studio sessions, that ressemble any of their live performances. They sound precise and acute, while bassist Nikolai Fraiture accomplishes once more to settle the sometimes frantic, the sometimes delicate rhythms that characterze him. In terms of execution, the band demonstrates that they might be onto something. Too bad that the once-proclaimed kings of rock showed they were not such.