Let Me Reminisce Over You: The Strokes

Photo credited to Jason McDonald

Let Me Reminisce Over You is an ongoing feature written by Tommy Delone, where he examines the music of his most formative artists. Here, to correspond with the release of their 6th studio album, The New Abnormal, Tommy dissects the notion of the Strokes being the saviors of rock and roll.

Ever since The Strokes released their powerhouse debut Is This It in 2001, critics, fans, friends, family and juvenile delinquents from all over have sparked the debate: will The Strokes ever be able to recapture the greatness their debut encompassed, or did they capture lightning in a bottle?  

As previously stated in my list of greatest debut albums ever, Is This It came into the new millennium reviving the no-frills sound and fresh attitude of every “cool” band of the first wave of punk and new wave. It was received well across the board, and the record is often considered as one of the most influential rock albums of all time, no less the 21st century. Along with early Pitchfork favorites Interpol and a lil’ duo called The White Stripes - The Strokes laid the foundation for the post-punk revival, directly influencing bands like The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, and Kings of Leon. Even to this day, Is This It echoes in the minds of alternative artists as they try to recapture the same, explosive magic of the record. 

But as Casablancas and company became a worldwide phenomenon, critics and listeners alike began to pigeonhole them into the most “boomer” of stereotypes: the band to “save rock and roll.” While such an act could never really come about in an ever-evolving landscape of popular music, slowly but surely, the music world started to view The Strokes as a messianic figure.  

The rest of their career, while certainly commendable and influential, has fulfilled the most classic of tropes: when the expectations are raised beyond reason, nothing will ever be as satisfying as the first taste. When they released their second studio album, Room on Fire, it wasn't met with the same universal praise of their debut. While it certainly is acclaimed - revered as the band’s next best thing - and contained great individual tracks in “12:51,” “Reptilia,” and “I Can’t Win,” the returns began to feel diminished. Subsequent releases have only continued this trend, leading many to question: why are the Strokes incapable of delivering another album of the same magnitude as their debut?

The most ironic thing about all of this is? The band never cared about making music to please other people’s expectations. Their message has always essentially been “fuck you and fuck what you expect of me.” People can be disappointed in the music, and call the message unoriginal, but Casablancacs’ ideals and priorities as a musician have always outweighed the outside expectations of the group. 

We’re surrounded by bands and musicians facing accusations of “selling out” in today’s musical climate. Numerous rock bands from The Strokes era - from Fall Out Boy and Maroon 5 to the aforementioned Kings of Leon - have been chastised because of their change in musical direction to match with the trends. The Strokes, meanwhile, have always managed to explore their influences with new techniques and textures while still maintaining their core competencies. In a popular musical landscape that seems to lack integrity, The Strokes constantly stuck with what they wanted to make. Even in their more recent output, their DIY ethos and underlying idealism has remained tangible. 

Their most recent album, Comedown Machine (2013), is a reflection of this, both musically and commercially. During this timeframe, Casablancas was experimenting with a solo career and trying to grow as a musician, but RCA had mounted pressures to force him and the band to release a new album. As a result, the release of the record played out as a flipping of the bird to RCA Records, with no tour, promotion, and only the label’s logo as it’s cover art to show. But - kind of surprisingly - the album slapped, or at least continued to demonstrate how the Strokes could make some great songs. 

The Strokes' outspoken denial of their “destiny” didn’t just start with Comedown Machine, though. Even if you look as far back as their second studio album, Room on Fire, Casablancas foresaw the effects of these claims. Rejecting these claims out of the jump with the first track “What Ever Happened?”, Casablancas reflects on the unforeseen consequences after the huge success of Is This It.  The lines “I wanna be forgotten/and I don’t wanna be reminded,” is just Julian saying that he wants to go back to who he was before Is This It, and he has no interest in being the vanguard of rock.  

Casablancas, as well as the other members of The Strokes, are musicians for music’s sake. Despite the fact that they were a bunch of rich kids from NYC (Julian Casablancas and Albert Hammond Jr. even met at a Swiss boarding school), they always kept the integrity and soul in their music. Even in the later years of their musical careers, they managed to evolve without losing grip of their roots.  That level of dedication to the craft is special, and it even begins to make me believe that they might be the saviors of rock and roll. However, they’re not….at least, not in the way that everybody anticipated or expected.  

Is This It was a special album, without question. It influenced a generation of musicians to create the foundation for modern rock. The Strokes may have been at the helm of this, but they never really wanted to be.  They were just a bunch of angsty rich kids that wanted to make music, and overnight, they had to reach this seemingly unattainable goal of being the chosen ones to bring back rock and roll from the grave.  Ever since they debuted, The Strokes have always made clear that they don’t care about this expectation, and that they were going to deliver whatever the fuck they so wanted to. They paved the way, and they still find themselves leading by example.  

In a world where too many of our popular artists ride trends and do what everyone else expects of them, The Strokes have always gone against the grain, showing that the only thing that is important to them is their craft.  Album by album, they have grown as musicians, but they have always managed to keep their feet rooted in the spirit that made them special to begin with. That, is exactly what The Strokes stand for.  The Strokes might not be the savior that rock wanted it to be, but it is certainly the savior that rock needed it to be.

The New Abnormal is out April 10th via Cult Records and RCA