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The Strokes, Room On Fire

By Jen Knuttson Tuesday 28 October 2003

By the time you read this you will already know what you think of the second offering from The Strokes. So there’s no point telling you that Radiohead maestro Nigel Godrich almost produced it, but then didn’t. There’s no point telling you that at one point it didn’t look like this album would get made at all. For that matter, you have probably already heard that frontman Julian Casablancas has recently described their debut album Is This It as his “least favourite album of all time”.

So what is left to say about Room On Fire? It’s a damn good record for one thing. Lacking the immediacy of their first album, you couldn’t be blamed for dismissing it as bland trash after one listen. But give it a chance and you will discover that The Strokes have managed to make an album full of soulful bluesy riffs and upbeat retro 80s tracks.

Showing a wider range of influences than has been the case in the past, The Strokes have really widened their horizons here. The electro-pop rock of latest single 12:51 has been blasting out from every indie disco in the land and even made it into the top 10, but it is hardly an indicator of the new songs show- cased in Room On Fire.

Admittedly, this album won’t have the same impact on the music world as its predecessor, but how could it? Instead of being hailed as an instant classic, hopefully this album will grow and grow on you until you love it as much as the first one. Okay, so despite the hype it will never be ground-breaking stuff, but if there’s a space in your life for five cute New Yorkers with garage rock tendencies, you could do a lot worse than this.

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