In 2001 the Strokes found themselves in difficult position. After the release of a three track EP (The Modern Age) they had become the subject of a multi-million dollar record label bidding war and endlessly hyped by the British music press as the band that was to save good old fashioned rock n’ roll from the sea of hip hop and nu metal that had supplanted it on the pop charts. Miraculously, the Strokes overdelivered on the staggering hype that had beset the recording process of Is This It and delivered a record that crystallised their ultra hip New York City rock n’ roll lineage (Television and the Velvet Underground in particular) and laid the groundwork for a new kind of rock music that didn’t belong to grunge and didn’t consider pop to be a dirty word. After September 11 the world had transformed overnight into a different place and the Strokes, whether they liked it or not, were the soundtrack of the future. Vocalist Julian Casablancas plays the role of the Lou-Reed-esque sneering romantic perfectly while the glassy stabs of Albert Hammond Jr and Nick Valensi’s duelling guitar laid the groundwork for the sound that was to become known as indie rock. Is This It entered the UK charts at no. 2 and breakout singles Hard to Explain and Last Nite electrified dance floors all over the world. The people had spoken: by all accounts, This Was It. The Strokes had arrived.
Pete Whelan 