AOTW: The Strokes - "Is This It?"

It's kind of hard to believe that 8 years have passed since Is This It? was released. In 2001, you couldn't read a music website or magazine without seeing a Strokes reference, so when the physical album finally hit stores, it almost felt late. Like we'd been waiting for it forever. Combine that with the fact that the album "sounded old," and well, of course people made ridiculous comparisons no band could really live up to. Especially on a debut album.

But man, what a debut... when you've got a guy named Julian Casablancas on lead vocals, he'd better sound this laid back, with a complete "who gives a shit" attitude. The composition is basic, but it's relentless. The slowly-building title track (and album opener) sets up the theme of pulsating eighth-notes perfectly, and by the time you get to "Last Nite," unquestionably the most popular song on the album, you've already remembered how great the whole thing is. There's not a bad track on Is This It?, and their choice for album title is pretty terrific in retrospect. "Is this all there is to music?" "Is this the best we'll ever be?" "Is this what you were wanting?" No. Kind of. Abso-fucking-lutely.