TS: The Strokes vs. LCD Soundsystem

this could be TS: The Strokes vs having your entrails pulled out of your eyesockets and I would still probably vote against The Strokes

DJP speaks wisdom.

both bands have a great first album, some good songs on the second album and a terrible third album

I don't listen either of them anymore.

i don't know if anyone else would agree with you on that

just for DJP i have created a second poll

behold!

TS: The Strokes vs having your entrails pulled out of your eyesockets

lol, I thought the first LCD was mediocre, the second surprisingly good and the third almost uniformly great

lcd wipe the floor with the strokes

I liked the Strokes first album for about a fortnight, and haven't really listened to it since and LCD Soundsystem always left me indifferent. Wish I could vote *yawn*.

(maybe I should check out the 'This is Happening again)

Wish I could vote *yawn*.

you can vote "I like neither!"

LCD Soundsystem, though I still like Is This It

I don't really dislike 'Is This It' and I certainly don't dislike LCD S, I'm just not very enthused is all.

strokes easily. lcd did 45:33 and "yeah (pretentious mix)" but there's all that stuff with the guy singing.

I don't see how anyone sane can diss LCD's vocals and still be a fan of The Strokes, unless just really really dig constipated groaning

"Hard to Excrete"

xp i do! see also: van morrison

LCD by a million supermiles.

"Hard to Excrete"

this really shouldn't have made me lol, but... lol

"Is This Shit"

okay lol, don't really need to alter the song title "Meet Me in the Bathroom" -- speaks for itself

so hard, love both so hard

I wish LCD were as good as that article makes them out to be.

I mean "was", obviously

"I wish LCD were as good as that article makes them out to was."

lol, I thought the first LCD was mediocre, the second surprisingly good and the third almost uniformly great

This is exactly right, except for "uniformly."

yeah I never really liked "You Wanted a Hit" or "Somebody's Calling Me" but the rest of it is ace

I dug "Freak Out/Starry Eyes" a lot. Wish they'd used that

xxp I'll allow it

you guys know what "almost" means, right

well, I'd argue against the word "uniformly."

fairy nuff

voted neither, New York indie's been soft ever since Snoop came through and crushed the buildings

i guess i'm the only guy that thinks LCD's b-sides and non album material are best, huh?

joke biter xp

Losing My Edge <------------ obviously
Yeah <---------------------- obviously
Beat Connection
Tired
Yr City's a Sucker
Slowdive
Freak Out/Starry Eyes
Hippie Priest Bum Out
45:33 <--------------------- arguably an "album" i guess?
Bye Bye Bayou

^ all among my favorite LCD material

like, why couldn't that have been a mini-set on their farewell show setlists??

? (xpost)

i have a hot LOL waiting for me in my bed so ill EXCELSIOR this

The Strokes really fucked it up for me with their terrible 3rd album, and being appalling live. I did love them once though. I've loved nearly everything I've heard by LCD Soundsystem and they're the best live band I've ever seen. So them.

i guess i'm the only guy that thinks LCD's b-sides and non album material are best, huh?

― hey ilxor, thanks for contributing, glad you stopped by (ilxor), Tuesday, April 5, 2011 8:41 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

think most people would include the early 12s as among their best but these were on cd with the first album, which in itself was p ehh

To this day listening to "Losing My Edge" is like imagining Sarah Palin recite Paradise Lost.

"Tribulations" is a much better song, anyway.

"Beat Connection" is better than either

why the "i like both!" cop out option?

ilxor got confused with the 2008 election

that doesn't even make sense

anyway i voted the strokes, heart of hearts

"Beat Connection" is better than either

― banjee trillness (The Reverend), Tuesday, April 5, 2011 12:54 PM (6 minutes ago)

Yes, this was the song that really turned me on to LCDSS, "Losing My Edge" was too kitsch, couldn't take them seriously on that song alone.

haha sorry rev obv totally forgot about that!

why the "i like both!" cop out option?

so that ppl don't bitch @ me for not including said option. anyway, if it bothers u, just pick a fav (although looks like u picked a bad option there)

it's all good xp

xp: lol surely you know by know that bitching @ you is considered by half the board to be a competitive sport!

yes i know - j0rdan actually got in a good line the other day (which i excelsiored, which then resulted in bitching @ me by half the board) - then again, he also said "you listen to drone music" as a retort, which is stupid

from now on i am going to say "you listen to the strokes" when j0rdan says something i disagree with

well i haven't listened to the strokes in like three years -- you can tell me "you love the first two strokes albums" though if you want, cuz that i do

well i haven't listened to the strokes in like three years

Strokes- Angles (2011)

hey, this sounds pretty good!

― no beans, push to fart (J0rdan S.), Sunday, February 6, 2011 1:06 AM (1 month ago)

take THAT, J0rdan

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517Nw9KT5uL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz5b0LXcUEk

TS: The Strokes vs. LCD Soundsystem vs. Take That

A James Murphy version of "Back For Good" in the style of "I Can Change" would be fabulous.

i did listen to the strokes latest single, i apologize

i just bought the first strokes record on vinyl. uk pressing, naughty cover, w/new york city cops on rough trade, $20, i was pretty pleased

you apologize for lying, or for listening to the strokes?

plz plz the latter

xp

he1go otm

i listen to drone music and i like the strokes and i like my entrails

he1go otm in describing what format he bought an album on and what he paid for it?

like, why couldn't that have been a mini-set on their farewell show setlists??

did you miss how they did do an entire mini-set with some of that material in their farewell show setlists

and also played half the rest of it

no i didn't miss that, thanks for asking

he1go otm in describing what format he bought an album on and what he paid for it?

― Turn My Slag On (some dude), Tuesday, April 5, 2011 4:52 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

otm for buying it in the first place!

he1go otm in describing what format he bought an album on and what he paid for it?

― Turn My Slag On (some dude), Tuesday, April 5, 2011 3:52 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you calling me a liar bub????? vinyl is serious bidness i'mma wolverine u

"new york city cops" is like the worst song on that record and who cares about naughty artwork, waste of money imo

i wasn't going to really wolverine you but now you hurt my feelings

anyway only rough trade copy i could find on ebay was $80 and the only one on discogs was $112 so i don't feel to shabby about it

NYC cops is much better than the song that replaced it, imo. Same goes for the cover art

in fairness, all the songs are bad and i'd not touch a strokes record no matter what the fucking artwork looked like

well i think it's a snappy little lou reed joins the cars type record and i like butts and stuff

^truth

man it's always people way through the looking glass of shitty indie who randomly pick one band to treat like the worst thing in the world

i think it's a snappy little lou reed joins the cars type record and i like butts and stuff

oh boy

but either way i am RICH now! it's a highly collectible record!

man it's always people way through the looking glass of shitty indie who randomly pick one band to treat like the worst thing in the world

otm

But also, The Strokes seems like SUCH a weird band to draw lines in the sand around like they are the most awful, untouchable thing ever.

also it's 2011

Eh they were "the first" to strike hypewise and all... I can dig.

I like the Strokes' pretentions more than LCD's, at least on their first album, the only one I own. Wouldn't want to be stuck at a party with either.

The Strokes are Hemingway and LCD is Fitzgerald.

Eh they were "the first" to strike hypewise and all... I can dig.

I know -- you weren't alive when the Beatles played on "Ed Sullivan."

strokes aren't the worst thing in the world: it's just the gaping unbridgeable chasm between breathless acclaim and meagre achievement that makes it seem that way.

and here is where we say "lol you live in britain"

lol no I am obviously referring to the 00s indie boy band brigade xp

and here is where we say "lol you live in britain"

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, April 5, 2011 11:33 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

iirc the strokes 'broke' here first?

but in general, sick burn

and anyway "first" what? They certainly weren't the first band to suffer from the Brit/Rolling Stone hype cycle.

I'm just talking about the strokes, franz Ferdinand, Interpol, jet etc displacing dmb, tal bachmann and that stuff for a portion of mainstream rock listeners.

Like, there was a time BEFORE bands like the strokes got on the radio, not arguing that it's anything NEW, just that it was obviously a "wave"

jet kinda DOES belong in that underwhelming company but lol anyway

Like, there was a time BEFORE bands like the strokes got on the radio, not arguing that it's anything NEW, just that it was obviously a "wave"

― blank, Tuesday, April 5, 2011 5:51 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this made me listen to "my wave" by soundgarden on youtube then i looked up how much soundgarden vinyl goes for! jesus! not a copy of superunknown even sniffed at below 100, most for 150+.

I'm just talking about the strokes, franz Ferdinand, Interpol, jet etc displacing dmb, tal bachmann and that stuff for a portion of mainstream rock listeners.

are you britishes? None of this stuff got remotely close to the mainstream in America.

our indie to mainstream revolution was modest mouse, shins, arcade fire etc

Er, "Take Me Out" got a lot of airplay on pop radio...

felt the futureheads deserved franz ferdinand's buzz

Yeah, I'll concede that by 2004 "Float On" and "Take Me Out" were much more likely to appear on your casual music fan's new iPod than "Last Night" and "Obstacle 2" were in 2002. But the new ways to think about music consumption and listening were really starting to unfold by 2004.

comparing ppl w ipods in 2002 to those in 2004 is your main problem in that first sentence.

In 2002 I made my last C-90 tape.

Pretty sure my last tape ever was one I made in the last week of 1999. After that it was all burning CDs until the iPod came into my life.

like them both, but kinda want to vote strokes bc i listened to those first to records a whole lot and they will prob get killed in this poll

first two

LCD on this one, but I don't hate the Strokes either. I'm glad the old man decided to retire the band too.

12:51 vs. Someone Great. No idea how I'm gonna vote yet...

12:51 vs. Someone Great

Hitting the dance floor after the third gin and tonic vs. sitting on the balcony hours later, smoking a cigarette you know you'll regret in the morning

None of this stuff got remotely close to the mainstream in America

File under: music that made it to The Gap and in-store Borders, but not radio.

"Take Me Out" was definitely all over the radio.

Like not even just alt-radio either. Shit was sharing airspace with Maroon 5!

Also: <3 you Alfred

Dazzled by the disdain for the Strokes here. I hear songs from the first two every day on the record and never tire.

The only skepticism I have for either band is the LCD "homage" approach, which is canny in execution, but vaguely perplexing when you realize that you haven't actually been listening to "Heroes"/"White Light"/something-from-an-Eno-solo-record-or-Berlin-trilogy, and have in fact been listening to a cut from "This Is Happening".

Still "45:33", "Someone Great" and (for me anyway) "Losing My Edge" are stone cold so I voted for both

"every day on the record" = "every day on the radio"

xp there's a valid point there...I think "All I Want" is a great song, but it's hard not to think, "no part of this song would exist if Heroes never came out"

the only track in my computer even ostensibly from either group is "too much love (rub n tug mix)" which is INCREDIBLE.

"new york city cops" is like the worst song on that record

no

lol, I caught the new Strokes video on MTV this morning and was shocked and amazed that I didn't hate it

phat phat phat phat Strokes

Truth is I like both, but I kinda wanna vote Strokes b/c I think the level of hate thrown their way seems kinda unwarranted. And the level of love LCD has gotten this past week is kinda over the top.

Also, full disclosure, I haven't picked up the new Strokes album yet, but it could easily be in the cards. I even find redeeming qualities from the third record.

And I don't think I've listened to the final LCD record all the way through more than twice. Not that I don't like it, it just never demands to be heard. Almost felt too familiar/retread from the get-go?

i watched the first hour or so of that LCD final concert on youtube: zzzzzzzzzzz

i mean i still voted LCD but i'm relying on LCD '05 and prior for that vote, otherwise it'd be neither

who knew that a youtube embed of a live show wouldn't faithfully capture the live show experience

Yeah, saw them opening for MIA after the first album. Was a mind-blowingly great experience. Wasn't a fan prior, but definitely was after. Had fun seeing them on the Sound of Silver tour too. Felt like enough though. How many times does a person need to see the same band anyways?

I should dust off This Is Happening to see what it does for me. It just feels kinda, for lack of a better word, surplus to requirements?

Of course, that same description could apply to the Strokes from the get go...and yet... ;)

Why'd they bother even broadcasting then? I don't think ilxor is expecting it to take the place of being there in person, but it shouldn't it illicit *something* more than zzzzzzzzzz?

^ this, yes

Just listened to This Is Happening. What a weird record. Each song on that thing calls to mind at least one previous LCD song, and in some cases, another easily identifiable artist. I can see how if this was a person's first real exposure to the band they'd love it, but for those who bought and loved the singles and first two albums, not sure how this one doesn't feel like a retread?

Because it feels like on this album he's finally figured out how to put all of these ideas together in a collection of cohesive songs that flow well.

haha, thank you Dan.

I can totally understand why you wouldn't dig This Is Happening if you are just processing it song by song, but I don't understand why anyone would listen to the album that way.

sorry, would want to listen to the album that way

(totally OTM, but yet you're still wrong about "All My Friends" imho)

Who cares if it "flows well" if all the songs are subpar.

(lol I know I'm deeply in the minority re: "All My Friends" but my biggest problem is that he's aping/evoking all of the bits of New Order that annoy me)

xp: Because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts! I thought that was an obvious inference...?

I dunno if I'd say it flows well (or at least not better than Sound of Silver) - pretty beat by the time "Somebody's Calling Me" plops out

The whole sucks too! xp

Even more than the parts!

Yeah, it kinda fell flat for me after a couple of listens. I don't mind some of the songs but even so.

Sound of Silver flows well and has great songs.

Why not just listen to New Order? Or Talking Heads? Or North American Scum?

Not saying it's a bad record...just saying: diminishing returns. I think it was a good time to end the band, in that sense.

Basically, my experience with the other 2 LCD albums is that there are fantastic songs ("Tribulations", "Someone Great", "Get Innocuous!") sprinkled in amongst things that irritate and annoy the shit out of me ("Yeah", "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House", "Time To Get Away", "New York I Love You But You Fucking Suck And Never Should Have Been Recorded"); this does not happen on This Is Happening, ergo it's my favorite release even though I'd likely only rank "Dance Yrself Clean" and "One Touch" as being absolute favorite LCD tracks of mine.

I do like "Drunk Girls" more than "North American Scum" though.

It's not bad so much as completely, utterly, fucking useless for the reasons xtian outlines.

Love all those previous songs except "Time to Get Away"

well that's awesome for you; I pretty much hate them

"New York" is my least favorite track on SoS but tacking that at the end of an album makes more sense to me than putting 7 minutes of dead dull "nightclubbing" filler your penultimate track after 5 tracks that go 6-9 minutes each.

though really there's no place "somebody's calling me" would make sense to me on an album that would still be plenty long enough without it

I do like "Drunk Girls" more than "North American Scum" though.

gtfo

btw i really enjoy "yeah" and "daft punk," indifferent/enjoy somewhat "time to get away," despise "nyilu"

People are strange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxzhiyQj6zI

How many times does a person need to see the same band anyways?

Love that this leads into an argument about how well different albums flow and hang together. How many times does a person need to play the same album anyway?

North American Scum is LCD's worst song ever (also but unrelatedly their most painfully obvious rip-off)

I'd like to clarify; I like "North American Scum" a lot. I happen to like "Drunk Girls" more. This is largely because I've more recently heard "Drunk Girls".

"north american scum" is far better than every song on this is happening, except for "heroes" "all i want" and mayyyybe (but probably not) "dance yrself clean"

I still retain residual fondness for early Strokes but pretty much never listen to them. LCD Soundsystem have consistently been one of my favourite acts of the last ten years and I listen to them regularly. At least two of the tracks on their third LP are amongst my favourite they've ever done, but I probably like the second album better as a rule. People who "hate" North American Scum or Yeah make me sad.

lcd soundsystem make me want to reach for other records. if i put the strokes on i'm happy listening to the strokes.

that's pretty much how i feel except that i'm not really ever too happy to be listening to the strokes

I forgot that The Strokes were presented as sounding like The Velvet Underground. I didn't get it then and I don't get it now.

it's because casablancas' voice is kind of dry and seedy and half-spoken, like lou reed's voice.

North American Scum is LCD's worst song ever (also but unrelatedly their most painfully obvious rip-off)

What does it rip off? The only reference point I grab from the song is Sweet Home Alabama.

i didn't get the VU thing until I heard the EP version of "The Modern Age," which is totally a Lou Reed impression in ways that the album version isn't at all.

xpost -- give a listen to Pete Shelley's "Homosapien" sometime.

lcd soundsystem make me want to reach for other records. if i put the strokes on i'm happy listening to the strokes.

― Crackle Box, Thursday, April 7, 2011 6:56 AM (1 hour ago)

lcd soundsystem make me want to reach for other records. if i put the strokes on i want to kill myself

So are you voting for death or for other records then

voted LCD cause i liked the first record ^____^

Hey guys, do you know what ilxor thinks of The Strokes?

¯\(°_o)/¯ i dunno lol

The article calls the strokes a "bracing jolt"? Seriously? I've had long yawns more jolting then "The Modern Age"

haven't read the article but i'm pretty sure whoever wrote it would be referring to their entry onto the "scene" not the song itself

A bracing dose of Jolt Cola.

referring to their entry onto the "scene"

that makes just as little sense, though!

like, i can't imagine the Strokes' first album in 2001 being a "bracing jolt" to anyone listening to The Blueprint, Discovery, Things We Lost in the Fire, Amnesiac, Vespertine, Endless Summer, Miss E, The Cold Vein, Rooty, Aaliyah's s/t album...

more like a pesky gnat buzzing around one's head, maybe?

bracing jolt of pesky gnat?

I kind of feel obligated to point out that the only people listening to all of those things at once were posting here or friends of people posting here

or any couple of those albums!

like, how about a person listening to Radiohead and Bjork?

or Cannibal Ox, Jay-Z and Missy?

or Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx?

would a Strokes album make any of these people go "HOLY SHIT MUSIC SUCKED UNTIL NOW BUT THANK YOU STROKES FOR THIS BRACING JOLT OF FRESHNESS"

lol

xpost

But you are listing a whole bunch of albums that sound nothing like the brand of straight-forward, traditional rock that the Strokes were peddling. So, even if you don't particularly stan for it, you can see how it might have sounded fresh, even if "bracing jolt" is a bit hyperbolic.

I kind of feel obligated to point out that the only people listening to all of those things at once were posting here or friends of people posting here

And how right he is.

But you are listing a whole bunch of albums that sound nothing like the brand of straight-forward, traditional rock that the Strokes were peddling. So, even if you don't particularly stan for it, you can see how it might have sounded fresh, even if "bracing jolt" is a bit hyperbolic.

The whole Strokes thing also came across initially as yet another in the wave of New York-based bands throughout the nineties that various usual suspects -- Rolling Stone in particular, but not solely -- worked themselves into a total lather over about being 'a real rock band is back!' See D-Generation, Jonathan Fire*Eater, etc. etc. Patent wish fulfillment and ultimately limited by the blinkers said tastemakers had (and/or willfully presented and imposed) as to what was 'real' or not.

So when you say 'straight-forward, traditional rock' -- by what measure? By whose standards? That buys into a myth, it doesn't SAY anything.

imo the strokes would be quite refreshing after listening to daft punk and basement jaxx back to back.

lcd soundsystem... wouldn't

So when you say 'straight-forward, traditional rock' -- by what measure? By whose standards? That buys into a myth, it doesn't SAY anything.

I was just responding to ilxor's arbitrary list of albums, the Strokes, in 2001, certainly sounded more like "rock" music than Daft Punk or Radiohead or Cannibal Ox or Jay-Z. I don't really think I'm stretching too much to say that.

I'm not disagreeing that the hype and buzz was patently ridiculous, but I could see why it may have appealed to a certain type of music listener.

I think I might have first heard something about the Strokes shortly after having seen a Rocket from the Crypt show and while nobody has to like them (or eight million other bands one could name), having just seen a 'straight-forward, traditional rock' band bring it and then seeing a bunch of New York-based writers act as if they'd found a lost secret was making me go "Jesus Christ, so once again nothing matters unless it comes from Manhattan or nearby? Fuck all y'all."

Oh I love RftC a bajillion times more than the Strokes, so I totally hear you on that count.

If my scene received a "bracing jolt" from the Strokes I'd realize that my scene is quite disappointing.

all that "real rock band" stuff was just to get interest tho right. who else at the time (in the mainstream) were doing repetitive lo-fi fashion pop rock like what the strokes were doing?

^^^ otm

But, this is sort of where I start to get uncomfortable with the way we are bordering on elitism. So what if some kid out there did get a bracing jolt from The Strokes after years spent listening to shitty nu-metal? I mean, maybe it led him to some ultimately more fulfilling places.

(xpost for my otm)

part of me for some reason wants to contrast The Strokes with Interpol but it's not a sensible comparison given the conversation

also I don't really like Interpol, either (although I get them more than I get The Strokes)

and yeh bracing jolt might be overdoing it, but it seemed like within 6 months, fashions had changed, there were a ton of bands doing a similar things and suddenly the 90s were gone.

Haha you know, if the Strokes had said "We're a repetitive lo-fi fashion pop rock band" or something like that I would likely have been a little more well disposed towards them. (And I should say I didn't mind "Last Nite" when I first heard it, I just thought it was a Smiths ripoff of them ripping off Motown with some garbagey guy rambling over it.)

who else at the time (in the mainstream) were doing repetitive lo-fi fashion pop rock like what the strokes were doing?

not a big white stripes fan, but they have their moments. and they were doing lo-fi, fashionable rock in the mainstream aroudn the same time. next to the strokes, white blood cells (which was also in 2001) sounds like the best fuckin album i've ever heard

You may be right, but this isn't a kid listening to Nu-Metal. It's a music writer talking about the Strokes, and the New York "scene". If the Strokes opened doors for people to move onto better music, wonderful. But that's something plenty of other mediocre musicians do.

...your point?

Okay, yeah, I was straw-manning a bit because I hadn't read the article (didn't feel the need to read yet another breathless Strokes stroking article).

xp: I think the point is "boo-urns on The Strokes"

white stripes are proper rock tho, riffs, rahhh, completely different

strokes are a bunch of skinny boys dressed up all funny limply playing their way through songs pretending that they don't give a fuck

xposts

The first time I heard the Strokes I thought, 'that's a nice enough sound.'

That was sort the peak for me. Not to a snob, but today all you need is a nice enough sound. Good song writing is a bonus.

*not to be a snob*

Yeah, those were all pretend riffs the Strokes played.

(xpost)

the real question is who would win a bit of pugilism: james murphy or julian casablancas

i didn't say they played pretend riffs? not that there's anything wrong with pretending to riff obv. i'm all for that.

I think that's something we could get behind.

Semi-celebrity boxing?

one of em came to our house once to practice with his other band for a show, he was very nice and v cool

i didn't say they played pretend riffs? not that there's anything wrong with pretending to riff obv. i'm all for that.

Nah, I just think its hilarious to point out a band just as, if not more, gimmicky as The Strokes as the paragons of "proper" rock.

For me at least I preferred the White Stripes gimmick to the Strokes one in 2001ish. The Strokes made it seem like they were trying to out cool people, or something. While the White Stripes... well they were being ambiguous on whether they were husband/wife, brother/sister, or both. While wearing red and white all time.

Yeah, I just think its silly to claim someone like Jack White, who has so carefully manufactured his entire image (red/white, only vintage recording techniques) is somehow inherently more "pure" that the Strokes.

Fwiw, I like both bands, probably the Stripes slightly more than the Strokes.

the gories vs stereolab

air liquide vs green velvet

Yeah, I just think its silly to claim someone like Jack White, who has so carefully manufactured his entire image (red/white, only vintage recording techniques) is somehow inherently more "pure" that the Strokes.

i could care less if they are "manufactured" (i like plenty of stuff that could fall under that heading), it's more that their music is not very good

fwiw i brought up the white stripes as if to say "here is band that also released a lo-fi rock album in 2001 that hit the mainstream charts, but was a lot more exciting than the strokes' album"

not "here is a band that is less manufactured than the strokes"

ilxor, I know you sometimes feel like ilx revolves around you, but I was actually referring to Crackle Box's comments.

yeah yeah, thanks for the new DN

np

thank you for including the all important "I like neither!" let this be a shining example for future poll makers everywhere

There's a whole lot of talk about The-Strokes-as-people here; really what makes Is This Is + Room On Fire + Sound Of Silver so lovely is the production, which is untouchable on all three records and other LCD cuts.

I've been trying very hard not to talk about The Strokes as people because I don't really know anything about them; I just know that I didn't like most of the songs I heard off of their first album and I really REALLY didn't like the way Julian sang about 95% of the time.

I dunno, if you're going to look in Julian Casablancas' eyes and say "bracing jolt" it'll make anyone snigger
But I def was shocked when I first heard "Last Nite" on my hairdressers' CD changer in 2002 (in between Rooty, Vespertine, The Blueprint, Pinback)

But yeah, it was the precision/repetitiousness of the playing, the lack of low end, the brevity.

really what makes Is This Is + Room On Fire...so lovely is the production,

Are The Strokes sending out some wonderful frequency that everyone else loves but I can't hear? I think they sounded like crap then as much as they do now. A few pretty good songs on the first two albums, but they sound awful!

I get what Owen's saying; going back to, say, "Last Night", the clarity/isolation of the instruments and how they're balanced in the mix is pretty impressive; my problem is that I am not a fan of what said instruments are doing.

also how many semicolons can I stick in one sentence

I remember saying at the time that Julian should have ditched the band and just made synth-pop. Still think that, really! It might have been a slightly different model for people than the Postal Service at least.

have you been reading 19th century novels today?

xp

the clarity/isolation of the instruments and how they're balanced in the mix is pretty impressive

It just sounds like a parched dry mix to me, and the drums were (and still do) sound like they're compressed within an inch of their life.

were=did

(lazy self-edit)

I remember saying at the time that Julian should have ditched the band and just made synth-pop. Still think that, really!

didn't he do a solo album that was something along "electronic" lines?

(genuine Q. as i've never heard it)

It was kind of synthy, but not enough imo.

He sang well on that forgettable solo album, which had a couple of his best songs since 2003.

xp @ Johnny re: "it sounds awful" + compressed. Yes. I know it sounds "awful", as in, everything is tape-compressed to tininess, everything is hard panned. But serious, compare that to, what, Mercury Rev? "The Soft Bulletin"? To a person who thinks "The Soft Bulletin" is the worst sounding thing in history, and inescapable, too, "Is This It" was manna c.a. 2001

And damn

I kind of feel obligated to point out that the only people listening to all of those things at once were posting here or friends of people posting here

― fat fat fat fat Usher (DJP), Thursday, April 7, 2011 11:43 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

This is only accurate with the inclusion of Cannibal Ox

I meant literally "at once", as in the hypothetical person had 10 CD players going simultaneously

Hehehe

xp I'm no big fan of Dave Fridmann either. The model of straightforward recording is that of Don Zientara and most of the stuff released on Dischord. He doesn't go as "live"-sounding as Albini, but still gives everything an unfussy mix and crystal clear identity.

Trying to imagine Is This It recorded the same way as Red Medicine right now, and loving what I'm imagining.

Guys, guess we pushed ilxor over the edge by talking about the Strokes too much.

has no bearing on quality but the stripes did have a much more "organic" growth out of underground rock, a couple indie albums that did well and touring, etc, before they became a "buzz band"

the first person that told me about them was my friend kenny who was all into bands like JSBX and 68 Comeback and Oblivions and shit like that.

Pretty sure the White Stripes didn't really have their mainstream breakthrough until 2002 when the album got re-released on a major and "Fell in Love With a Girl" took off, by which time the Strokes were fairly well established.

i mean they were on sympathy for the record industry ferchrssakes

yeah m@tt otm

I'm not placing to much into how they obtained success or not. Either way though, the Strokes music just bores me.

yeah i just think it's interesting how ppl perceive that they kinda blew up at the same time in the same way but the white stripes p much came up in the trad 90s indie rock way

That is true. They were just kind of lumped in there with the rest of the "the" bands that became popular then.

All the critics who had hailed the Strokes as saviors of real rock n roll or whatever in 2001...had they not heard Weezer's the Green Album?

Anyway, I did give them a chance on the basis of the "New York City Cops" controversy. I had never been to NYC but I'd interacted with tons of other cops and I was really anxious to hear a song that would explore that social/cultural/political nexus perhaps a la 1980s hardcore lyrics but with an old timey rock n roll beat? I think the song turned out to be about a girl or something. It was disappointing.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

it took LCD Soundsystem five years to release their three albums, it took the Strokes ten years for their three albums.

LCD wins! plus Sound of Silver is the best album out of all of these, though i might have played Is This It a bit more.

The Strokes have 4 albums and the span of time between their 1st and 3rd albums is actually about a year less than between LCD Soundsystem's 1st and 3rd albums. Also that's a completely irrelevant criteria for making any kind of value judgement.

it's four, i forgot about that third one i guess (and don't count 45:33). they just seemed to be the ones who took time off. LCD didn't really have too much time between albums.

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