The Strokes-Juice Box (2005)Oct 30 '05 (Updated Dec 05 '05) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The screaming reminds me of Reptilia. For some reason, there were spotlights in the sky. It seemed like they had been following me all day. Well, I hadn't committed any felonies lately but I couldn't help think about the helicopter scene in Goodfellas. Driving 50 in a 25 mph zone (yeah man, I'm so cool), I imagined I was escaping from the cops like I was in the movie, except this time, the background music was Juice Box, the first single off the Strokes' new album First Impressions of Earth, coming out early 2006. I mean, listen to the opening bass riff. It's very sci-fi or suspense sounding and would easily fit into a Mega Man game or something (not unlike GnR's My Michelle which actually is a Mega Man song...I swear!). In fact, it's very very similar to the Batman theme song and I can easily picture Batman jumping onto my windshield or something while this song is playing. It also kind of sounds like the riff to Alone, Together which proved that the Strokes can build good songs around corny riffs. Nick and Albert use some of the heaviest distortion they've ever used while Julian tries his hardest to shed his image as a monotone singer. In case you were one of those morons that heard Reptilia and still said Julian was monotone, he wails and screams in this one as you can't help but sing along... Why don't you come over here???? We've got a city to love!!! As Julian himself has explained, this song isn't really about anything but it doesn't have to be. The energy of this song is contagious and the choruses are especially sweet with clean guitar over some muddy riffs. This song does come off a bit as a normal band trying to hard to sound "hard" like some atrocious MxPx songs I confess to liking way back when. Metal bands are metal bands for a reason. They're good at what they do. It was what I was kind of worried about when I read up on the new album. In one interview Julian used the words "hard" and "mellow" way too much. In another, he sounded like he wasn't quite comfortable with the direction the band was taking with the new producer and whatnot. He was saying something about this new vocal effect he wasn't fond of now being "pretty much all over" the new album though he seems quick to mention "It's not crazy reverb or anything though". I'm kind of concerned about the band because since their new album supposedly sounds "fuller", it's inevitable that they will lose even some more of their Is This It magic. Room On Fire was just as good, if not better, but it did lack those simple-as-cake songs that you could sing along to, sounding bored, while having the time of your life, with the exception of 12:51. It seems Julian has given up on seeing how crazy he can drive critics with his mumbling voice. Rats, cause it was fun. Juice Box is catchy, no doubt about it. But if the entire album sounds like this, we're going to have a problem. The Strokes are trying to please the critics by doing something different from their old stuff, so they're in danger of crossing the line too far into generic rock. I'd rather die than see that happen. Okay, not really, but I really hope they can continue the balance of excitement and cool boredom they managed in Room On Fire. Yeah, a second RoF or a second ITI would do just fine for me. But you're not going to be thinking of any of that stuff while blasting Juice Box in your car. Just try not to get any speeding tickets. I award Juice Box 4 stars and anxiously wait for January 2006. p.s. Have you seen any pics of Jules lately? To semi-quote someone's live journal, he's married, wears polo shirts with the collars popped and has a tattoo of a spider on his elbow. He cut his hair! He's so...normal looking now. He doesn't really look like he's on drugs. He used to be my role model...and I still can't believe he's married. Wow. I guess I have to get married too if I still want to be like him. Related Strokes Reviews First Impressions of Earth (Preview) Is This It? Room On Fire  |
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