i only got round to hearing their first album "is this it" a few months ago and i thought it was a superb debut album.i mix of the velvet underground and television wrapped up in some great melodic songs which sound better each time you play them.
one of the clever things about this band is that they know its important not to let a song be any longer than around 3 mins. most musicial artists nowadays tend to drag out songs far too long and the listener starts to lose interest( i include prince in this as well, he has always been a terrible editor of his own music)
...i have just listened to their new album"room on fire" and although it is not as good as the first album, it is still very strong. almost every song they have released has got something interesting in it. check them out.

I agree. They are a new classic band.

nothing but cokeheads relying on daddy's (or uncle's, in this case) money to pay for producing. they are ok but they have been made out as some kind of saviours to rock n' roll when, in reality, they kinda suck live.

money and connection rarely equals 'the most exciting thing in music at the moment.'

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

Have I mentioned lately that I adore you?

I refuse to embrace this band - they're like Creed for metrosexuals. To each their own, but they bore the crap out of me.

I just bought the new CD cos it was 9.99 at best buy



I must say, I don't get it...

endorphin74 said:

Did you like the first one?

Anxiety said:

That's complete BS! The Strokes are about as far removed from Creed (thank God for that) as you can get!

The Strokes are aiight. Nothing more and nothing less. Just aiight. I just think they're a lil' overrated, especially among the U.K. critics. They're just some hipsters from NYC who decided to form a band cuz they had nothing else to do, probably. I'm from New York and guys who'd dress up like the Strokes would come a dime a dozen. So their style is nothing new. I'd rather listen to something more different like The Rapture or Interpol. They're way more exciting than typical garage punk.

Anxiety said:

Have I said I adore you? That's fuckin' funny and I agree.

The debut was an instant classic, 'Room On Fire' is more of the same, just not as good by long, and therefore boring. This band will not survive their upcoming worldtour, maybe therefore I kinda want to see them perform here in Amsterdam next month.

Drew Barrymore is bound to have her next failed relationship...

TRON said:

this one is just so similar...I don't HATE IT, It just feels like I bought the same CD twice

blackboab said:

Don't believe the hype!

it is interesting to see that almost everyone who hyped this band two years ago (meaning the press, etc.) is letting them go now... I haven't read one single review of their new album that tempts me to buy it! Two years ago it was more like: 'What do you mean you don't own 'Is This It?'?'

One step up from Boyzone (and only because they can play a few instruments) and just as tedious.

Seriously though, I hear nothing original or exciting in their music.

Try Woodstar instead. Now there's a band...

NWF said:

I agree. Plus extra marks 4 mentioning Interpol (even if they do sound like Joy Division-which is a good thing I guess). There's plenty more exciting guitar bands around than The Strokes-Super Furry Animals, The Darkness, etc.

JDINTERACTIVE said:

I'm very excited to see if Interpol is worth the hype. I think they kick ass live and I love the CD. But, I'm waiting to see if they can pull it off again on their next CD or if they really were just part of the media hype machine surrounding the Strokes/Hives/Vines/Whoevers of the past 2 years...

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

Thanks for this insight, I had a feeling that this was the case

From AMG:

Unlike many bands that release notable debut albums and then take years to deliver a follow-up, the Strokes got Room on Fire out as quickly as possible after their lengthy tour for Is This It. Good thing, too; the two years between their debut and this album were long enough for the expectations for — and the backlash against — a new Strokes album to reach formidable proportions. And the Strokes sound like they have a lot to prove on Room on Fire, not to their naysayers, but to themselves. On the surface, the album isn't drastically different than Is This It, but it's not predictable. Instead of delivering an album's worth of "Last Nite"s, "Someday"s, and "NYC Cop"s, Room on Fire expands on their debut's off-kilter and complex tracks, like "Is This It?" and "Hard to Explain." The album's first single, "12:51," signals the Strokes' intent: its whistling, synth-like guitars and handclaps are undeniably catchy, but at first, the song seems to be searching for a structure. Eventually, though, it becomes sneakily addictive — it's a stealth pop song. Likewise, the album opens with "What Ever Happened?," on which Julian Casablancas snarls "I wanna be forgotten/And I don't wanna be reminded" — not exactly the likeliest start to what should be a triumphant second album from one of the most celebrated rock bands of the 2000s. In many ways, Room on Fire is the Strokes' bid to be taken seriously, which may be why they began this album with producer Nigel Godrich before returning to Is This It producer Gordon Raphael. To his credit, Raphael gives the album its own sound: it's brighter and fuller than Is This It's low-rent production. Room on Fire also has a distinct attitude. Is This It sounded effortless, but it's evident that a great deal of effort was put into Room on Fire. Yet the album's most crafted moments are its most exciting: "Automatic Stop," a playful, poignant look back at a love triangle, lopes along to a reggae beat (and features the witty lyrics "So many fish there in the sea/I wanted her/He wanted me"). "Under Control," an awkwardly gorgeous homage to '60s soul, is possibly the best Strokes song yet. Several songs recapture some of Is This It's exuberance; not surprisingly, they're the ones that the band wrote while on tour. "You Talk Way Too Much" revs on one of their most Velvets-y riffs; "Meet Me in the Bathroom"'s Motown-like bass line and shimmery guitars add some style to its underlying sleaze. However, the Strokes are a different band than when they recorded Is This It, and Room on Fire's best songs acknowledge that. There's a weariness lingering around Room on Fire like stale smoke, especially on "The End Has No End," a loop of a song about a nagging breakup that repeats its seemingly nonsensical title in a surprisingly affecting way. "Reptilia," meanwhile, sounds like a long night of partying turned sour. "Please don't slow me down if I'm going too fast," Casablancas wails (most of Room on Fire's distortion comes from his vocals, which give the impression that he's gargled with turpentine and brushed his teeth with steel wool for the past two years). The motif of moving too fast and not minding it winds through Room on Fire, reflecting its svelte 33-minute running time as well as the swiftness of the Strokes' career. This compressed feel, the precision of the band's playing and arrangements, and the way every song comes to an abrupt stop sometimes make the album sound too closed-off. Room on Fire's best moments fight against this tendency and suggest that the Strokes are continuing to grow, perhaps beyond what their listeners want from them. Some may gripe that it's never as good as the first time, but Room on Fire shows that even after all that happened to the Strokes, they can still surprise. — Heather Phares

A decent review.

NWF said:

Interpol is wonderful too. But they're every bit as derivative and hyped as The Strokes.

I listened to the whole album last night. It's great! I think I'll like it every bit as much as the debut. Looks like I'm the only one on the Strokes train.

I still can't figure these guys out...I took this pop music seminar in college around the time their first record came out and we tracked them thruought the semester and made all these observations...I guess the fact that they and all these other garage bands have gotten so much attention is because of the fact that people want to rock again. But they're so boring to watch...are they interesting because they're boring? I think we'll have to wait and see how their third album does to see whether or not they're a flavor of the moment band.

They really are a broing act. I saw them on Conan a few hours ago and the music was...er...aiiight, but they don't have the swagger or attitude of their influences.

NWF said:

They do their own thing.
And they do it well. What makes this band GOOD to me is that their music transmits the FUN. I get happy listening to them.

TRON said:

Some people live up to their hype.

Like The White Stripes.

gooeythehamster said:

Emphasis on 'listening', for the rest they are really boring. That act is tired!

gooeythehamster said:

The White Stripes are so much better!

the strokes can stroke my asshole... i can't stand them...

there's just a shortage of good new rock bands...

i like the vines and buckcherry... and i freakin' love the white stripes... otherwise, i can't think of any rock bands that have come along in the last 5 years that have done anything for me...

NWF said:

i saw them a few years ago at a church-turned-into-a-venue and they were so disinterested, like that was there thing, ya know. then i saw them play at a small club in philly (it was a brit pop party at a dance club) and they played with the same lack of enthusiasm. i've come to realize that their schtick is just that...'we're rockers and we're too cool, now let's do more coke.'

it's funny though, because everyone in philly thought they we're the coolest thing in the world. hype and media are powerful things, y'all!

at the end of the day, their record is good (and does rock), unfortunately its all in the production and studio crafts.