The Strokes – Is This It

On the eve of its 25th anniversary,  it is nothing short of a joy to give Is This It a spin this Sunday. 25 years old, it actually had a slightly protracted launch, officially being released in Australia on 30th July, with its Rough Trade debut in the UK following in August, and the full international release delayed in the US from September to October due to the September 11 attacks.

Formed in New York City in 1998, Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti instantly became the talk of New York's Lower East Side, building their reputation through relentless live shows. While guitar music at the turn of the millennium had become increasingly polished, The Strokes stripped everything back, a raw, effortless cool that shared its DNA with New York’s iconic music scene, from The Velvet Underground and The Ramones, to Television and The Cars. Is This It was one of the most anticipated debut albums of the decade and totally changed the direction of guitar music.

Listening to it brings back special memories of a wonderful time in my life but it also reminds me that rock n roll is a beautiful art form.

To celebrate the anniversary, we spoke to a good friend of the shop (and all-time top raconteur), James Endeacott about what that anticipation felt like first hand…

What are your memories of your first encounters with Julian, Nick, Albert, Nikolai and Fabrizio?

My first meeting with the band was an hour or so before their debut UK performance. It was in Portsmouth and they were opening for ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. I remember being over excited about meeting these youngsters - some of them were still teenagers! I also recall reciting the lyrics to The Modern Age to Julian and getting them all wrong. What first struck me was their effortless cool, their politeness and the way they loved to hug each other and people around them.

Do you recall the first song you heard?

Geoff Travis knew someone who worked at The Mercury Lounge in New York. He would send over music of bands he thought Geoff and Rough Trade would like. One morning I arrived at the office early and Geoff beckoned me into his room. What do you think of this? he said… He then played at blistering volume the three tracks that would become the band’s debut single.

Did you know you were onto something?

I fell in love instantly and Geoff, myself and all the others in the office knew this was something special. I think we listened to those three tracks over and over again for most of the morning.

Even pre-internet, it felt like there was such a buzz when they signed?

There was no buzz initially! That only happened after we put the first single out. Once that was out then the world took notice and the band became hot property. They had loyalty to Rough Trade and promised us that we would be able to put out their records in the UK but they would sign to a major for the rest of the world. They eventually signed to RCA for the world excluding the UK.

I guess that's an interesting thought too, you didn't have to do any of the modern day hoopla with social media and the internet. I guess you all just wanted to get the record out there and knew it would find its audience?

You just knew that once people saw them and heard them it would just spread like wildfire. I don't think anyone knew how much of a breath of fresh air the band would be. People knew all the names of the band before the second single came out...!!! Things like that were unprecedented at the time. They became the perfect band without even really trying. That's how it came across anyway.

Releasing records 25 years ago was way better than doing it now, right?

Releasing that album was so exciting. I'm sure it's exciting these days but what made this special is that the band seemed to come from nowhere and the tracks people were hearing were of such a high standard. They were on another level when they played live which also helped.

What is your most enduring memory of the album?

My favourite memory of the album was going to New York when they were recording it and spending a long weekend with the band. Hanging out in the studio as they recorded Hard To Explain is a moment that i'll never forget. We went to their favourite bar, took a trip to Boston where they played an art gallery in front of about 30 people who had no idea who they were.

(laughing) How about when you saw that iconic artwork for the first time?

When the album artwork arrived in the office that sealed the deal for me. Those songs and that cover - there was no stopping them.

When was the last time you stuck it on?

I actually played the album in full about six months ago. It runs at just over 35 minutes and there is not a wasted moment on it. It still thrills as much as it did 25 years ago. I hope and believe it will continue to inspire and excite people for another 25 years. Listening to it brings back special memories of a wonderful time in my life but it also reminds me that rock ‘n’ roll is a beautiful art form. An art form that is simple and if executed correctly will never fail to thrill.

The production of the album - with Gordon Raphael at Transporterraum Studios - would go on to become one of the defining aspects of the band, in many ways the sixth member. It is raw, it was quick and they used inexpensive equipment to capture the band’s incendiary live sound, with live performances together in the room rather than multi-layering. The drums are muted (and man does Fab ever hit them!), with Nick and Albert layering spider guitar riffs through small amplifiers, and Nikolai’s bass running low, deep and propulsive. Julian’s laconic vocals are just perfect, crunching and crackling on the long held notes (which was either an early digital processor, or recorded through a guitar amp depending on who you ask).

The title track and album opener (with that lush tape machine swirl to start it) is such a perfect start, a slightly sombre two and a half minutes that plays with the wry title - Is This It? - before ripping back-to-back through The Modern Age, Soma, Barely Legal and Someday - four absolutely scorching guitar songs with energy, hustle and such lighthearted breeze. Alone, Together shows the band’s full dynamism, with guitars and bass weaving dark magic, before erupting into the anthemic Last Nite. Hard To Explain is full of mad lust, four evocative minutes of magic (and guys, that ain’t a drum machine!), sitting next to the equally iconic New York City Cops (replaced on some of the international editions with When It Started). Trying Your Luck keeps up the propulsion, whilst also showing one last gesture towards the sweetly simple side of Casablancas’ writing. Then, and finally, Take It Or Leave It, a frenetic and jangling cut that encompasses everything before it with one last romp. More magic, and one of the finest ever album closing tracks.

Twenty-five years on, Is This It remains one of the defining albums of the 21st century, reshaping all of popular music, but not only this, it still sounds remarkably fresh. The lightning they caught in a bottle remains full of such a rare zeal.




Portraits by www.colinlane.com