The Strokes

In many ways, I think the Strokes has been one of the most controversial groups of recent times. Personally, I think they are also one of the best, at least to have emerged within the decade. The Strokes is also one of the few artists I would even compare to Guided by Voices, though they do not even approach that level of greatness. The group does invited this upon themselves, for better or worse by thanking Pollard and company in the liner notes of Is This It and sharing the screen in this fantastic video:



When I make this comparison I often get a strong negative response, even from people who do not have nearly as strong an affinity for Guided by Voices. While the personality of the Strokes differs from Guided by Voices, both bands have the same kind of honesty and genuine love and knowledge of rock music. Most prominently, is the lack of pretension, a statement that I am aware begs for trouble. First, the Strokes are accused to being pretentious, but this is of course, coming from people that seem to forget that New York City breeds arrogance, especially coupled with affluence and youth. Naturally, that attitude is there, but no more than should be assumed under these circumstances. Being older Midwestern drunks GbV gets these accusations more from their music which is often inaccessible. In reality, any close listen to either group will prove that both artists create their music out of a sincere love of the best rock music that has been made since the birth of the genre - whether inaccessible, pretensions, mainstream, artistic, or superficial. Both groups serve as the ultimate culmination of the quality that has been collecting over the years.

When the Strokes were still merely gaining a buzz almost seven years ago accusations of the band being a group of Velvet Underground impersonators circulated even more than fashionable photos of the group. However, when Is This It was finally released the comparison hardly came to mind, at least not any more than artists who had already been regarded as classic like the Raincoats or Talking Heads. What I did hear was everything I liked - traces of Television, the Stooges (to whom my guitar teacher immediately compared after seeing the "Last Nite" video"), and even some of the better indie rock of the time. That record, which I truly believe will stand as the only obvious classic rock of the decade thus far, represents everything great about rock and roll as of 2001 and emits the band's personality to a degree that is almost never heard anymore.

This is not the last you will read of my affinity for the Strokes.