Yeah so you know the story. Amongst incredible hype, The Strokes released their debut album Is This It in 2001, I think, and was gobbled up by college kids everywhere. In 2004, they released their sophomore album Room On Fire which received mixed reviews, including a mediocre rating from my previous review. However, I could not let that review stand any longer as it was a lie. I'm telling you now that not only does this album contains more complex songwriting from Julian Casablancas & Co., it is a general improvement of Is This It, although at times, it does miss the debut album's magic.

What was that magic of the first album that I speak of? Well, I think it's the ability to craft a song out of two chord intros. And while most of the songs on this album are no longer that simplistic, two of these new songs continue in the same vein. 12:51 has that two chord intro and is overall a very simple song. Reptilia has that one bass note intro before the guitar comes in and it becomes another two chord intro. So both songs could've fit into Is This It except for a few things. Reptilia may be simple but also showcases Casablancas' improved voice. Perhaps as a middle finger to those who call his voice too unemotional, Julian screams and shouts by the end of the song (while making funny faces in the video). While somewhat comical, it also makes this song incredible fun to scream and shout along to while driving. Especially these lines...

The room is on fire
As she's fixing her HAAIIIIRRRR
(I would've made this line my title if a certain someone hadn't made it his title...)

I said ,"Please don't slow me down
Am I going too FAAASSSTTTTTT?"

I even instinctively hold out my hand in the stop position when I sing the part about not slowing down. I just did it right now and I'm glad no one's watching me. The song's insanely simple main riff belies the complexity of the rest of the song; Albert's fingers have to fly to play the other parts of the song. That kind of stuff lead a lot of people to say that the Strokes suck musically when in fact, their songs have difficult parts. They just like to showcase those 4 note riffs.

12:51 showcases the band's new favorite guitar effect that makes the guitar sounds like a synthesizer. Julian manages to sound really bored during this song, but its laid-back coolness and that synthy effect are reasons why this song is almost always on in my car. It has pleasant fluffy lyrics...

We can go and get 40's
F*ck going to that party

...so fluffy in fact that when Casablancas tells us "12:51 was the time my voice found the words I sought, is this the stage I want?" you kind of brush off his little epiphany. This song is fun and those two singles are up there with Someday and Last Nite in catchiness. In fact, I might like these two singles better.

Another standout track is What Ever Happened? as Julian croons...

I wanna be forgetten
And I don't want to be reminded...

...and Nick soon goes into a cool guitar solo. This seems to be a song about struggling with fame as Julian laments having to write "top ten ideas/for countdown shows", and as the first track on the album, it's a great place to showcase Julian's vox. He is a much better singer now and isn't really half bad if you give him the chance. His vocals no longer sound distorted either. Yay! I love this song and sing along to it all the time, especially at those points in my life where I feel it would be neat just to be forgotten.

For a band not known for their lyrics, the Strokes do a good job at times as the lyrics in Automatic Stop are deliciously mean ("Wait/I'm not going to give it a break/I'm not your friend/I never was") and showcase Julian's vocals as he sings it "I never wwwaaaaaasssssss" at the conclusion of the song. I Can't Win has insanely catchy guitar riffs and an upbeat drum...er..beat, so you might not even notice Casablancas waxing philosophical on "things in bars that people do/when no one wants to talk to you" and rues, "He told me that those girls were easy." The End Has No End has pretty complex guitar work for a Strokes song with that guitar effect again. It's sounded somewhat plodding at first, but after I saw the video, I found myself playing it again and again. I wasn't sure but it seemed that Eva Mendez and Mila Kunis were in the video. And if the song seems plodding, the rocking guitar solo sounds all the better for it. Seriously, I really enjoy this song now for some reason, but if you don't like it, I could argue that the Strokes were trying to create a feeling so you would feel that the end has no end if I were a pretentious scene kid but I'm not.

Er. Under Control seemed a tad too boring and slow, but now I like it. It's the Strokes' first attempt at anything resembling a ballad, and it works pretty well. You might end up getting hypnotized by the constant downstroking though. The rest of the tracks are pretty good but blend in together.

Is it better than Is This It? Is this "It" or "Is This It?" it? Ha, I wonder if that last line was confusing enough. Well, I'm going to skirt around that question and tell you that Room On Fire is...different. The songwriting in songs like "What Ever Happened?" show an increased complexity while Casablancas' voice is much better and no longer sounds distorted. However a few songs like "Meet Me In The Bathroom" are good but fairly unremarkable and blend in with other songs like "Between Love & Hate". Lyrics aren't exactly Descartes but Julian gets somewhat thoughtful at times...

...but not too much. It's the Strokes, and Room on Fire is an album that I really love and I can't capture that in words very well. Wait let me try. I totally really really really really love this album. On second thought...umm...Room on Fire is a super happy fun minimalist time! It's also insanely short. So make that a super happy short fun minimalist time! This album makes me forget that Julian and the band are a bunch of rich spoiled kids who probably went to NYU...people I'm supposed to hate!

The Traxxx
1. What Ever Happened?-5 Stars
2. Reptilia-5 Stars
3. Automatic Stop-5 Stars
4. 12:51-5 Stars
5. You Talk Way Too Much-4 Stars
6. Between Love And Hate-4 Stars
7. Meet Me In The Bathroom-4 Stars
8. Under Control-5 Stars
9. The Way It Is-4 Stars
10. The End Has No End-5 Stars
11. I Can't Win-5 Stars


xo,

underdawg

p.s. If you listen to this album with an iPod foto, you can stare at the pretentious art that they like to put on their covers!

Related Strokes Reviews
First Impressions of Earth (Preview)
Juice Box (single)
Is This It?


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving