Those comparisons ring even less true on Is This It. If anything, and if you feel absolutely compelled to find a label for it, the disc has more in common with a few bands out of Boston. You could say it owes its quirky pop melodies to The Modern Lovers ("When It Started," a late addition to the album) and some of its guitar sounds to the Pixies (the opening guitar line of the title track is copped from "Where Is My Mind?").
More than anything, however, Is This It stands on its own, sounding old only because not enough bands play this kind of unapologetic rock anymore. It's not a desperate gasp for the past, but rather a struggle for the future, wedging straight-up rock-and-roll into a place that no longer has much room for it. Listen to "Hard to Explain" and you can hear it all: the drum machine intro gives way to a twin-guitar melody and bass line that sounds like fingers on the same hand, which makes room for a chorus that sticks in your head like autopsy photos. It doesn't really matter what you call it, but here's a good starting place: great.
The Strokes: A modeling agency's idea of a rock band, with the musical power to back it up.
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Valensi and the band don't want to get too caught up in that kind of praise. Only now are they beginning to find their way in the chaos that has surrounded them since the release of The Modern Age. Only now are they returning to normal, though normal now has a new meaning. It's been a difficult process, progressing from kids handing out fliers in front of venues to musicians handing out their time to starry-eyed journalists. But they're still the same five friends they were when this all started. As Valensi says, nothing's changed. And everything's changed.
"As far as our relationships with each other, and like, the way we communicate with each other, it's all very, very much the same, and it hasn't, like, changed at all. I think especially for Julian, in terms of being creative and stuff, and writing new songs, and as a band, working on new shit and being creative together, that's sort of taken a toll, due to the excessive touring and excessive talking to journalists." He laughs, knowing what that sounds like during an interview.
"I think we're still new to this. We're just sort of, like, falling into place now, and realizing what works for us. How we can sort of, like, still feel normal while we're on the road and, like, playing for people, you know? I mean, like, at first, we thought we could just sort of . . . we were of the opinion of, 'Yeah, we can play, like, 21 shows in a row. Like, sure, no problem.' And still, like, do interviews every day, and take photos every day. But it turns out that that's just impossible.
"At a point, it was taking [a] toll on us creatively; we didn't have a new song for, like, a couple of months there. And that hadn't happened for years. Right now, we're just sort of in the process of, like, cutting down a lot on press, because it sucks at your soul." He waits a beat. "No offense."
