i've recently read a few articles where the "big buzz band that didn't make it" is usually called the Strokes. now, granted, not going supa-platinum is certainly not "making it" by several acceptable standards in this silly industry, but i ask...what's up with writing the Strokes off? i'm not even that big of a fan, but i'd like to think that my sense of who's doing well/poorly isn't *that* far off the mark...

thoughts?

KPH

if i asked my little sister, would she know any of their songs off the top of her head? i think that's closer to what the media means by "making it".

man, the strokes are still fucking awesome.

i didn't like the last album very much, but I wouldn't write them off just yet, either. I'd put them in the "great-debut-crappy-followup" category and wait to see how the new material sounds. It's quite possible that they blew their proverbial load with the first album, but that won't be concrete for years at least.

'Ey, she'd probably know that Fab Moretti is a stone stud.

Would that be sufficient?

i think that's the degree of penetration that they have though; people who watch that particular media have heard of and like them, but there's been almost zero crossover into teen or adult awareness. they're like the biggest fringe band going.

I don't really hear much difference between the two and by that I mean they both are fucking tight IMO. I give the edge to the first one though.

i still like 'em. aren't they working on a third album?

I kinda feel sorry for Drew Barrymore now....



wait - no I don't...

By this logic/math, what is Ryan Adams?

Doesn't sell as many records as you (or avg. Joe Indie) might get the impression that he does, but I'd say he's pretty successful.

Did not both Strokes albums goe Gold (500,000 sold)?

And I defy anyone who says that the second record is no good, or even inferior to the first. The first was a blast of fresh air, and maybe more straight ahead rock, but fuck the second album still RULES, and I am anticipating their new record more than any this year, save THE ROLLING STONES (finishing up in the studio, bitches)

See, to me the second album sounds like all the shit that was cut from the first album. They're good songs and all, and maybe if I'd never heard the second one I'd grow to appreciae them a lot more. But tha debut seemed to come out of nowhere to me and that ep in particular really had me convinced this band would just kill everything. I guess I just needed some sort of progression and never found it.

and yes, they are working on their third now.

Sometimes I like the 2nd one more than the 1st album. Kinda of depends on mood.
Strokes are one of my favorite bands. To me they made it by the fact that they are so often used as reference for every new band that comes out. I wonder how many times I've heard they sound like strokes crossed with__________band.

oh yeah and nick valensi is in my ring of husbands, so another reason why i heart the strokes.

yeah, i think that going gold twice is pretty much making it. are they international superstars? no. i think my little sister might know who they are, though. and it wouldn't just be because of me. i like both albums a lot, but found them to be a very mediocre live band just after is this it's release. the white stripes and the strokes have easily done the best of the slew of bands that were apparently going to save rock music. for that reason, i'd say they've made it.

maybe they mean, the band didnt sell nearly the amount of records that their buzz before the first record came out, would have lead everyone to believe.....

but hardly has-beens

this is a very good point. But then, using the music press as criteria for success is pretty dangerous. Also, this could in time include groups like the Scissor Sisters, Franz Ferdinand, !!!, etc... solely on grounds that they were among the first to be heavily publicized for prototyping/rehashing a particular type of music a few weeks ahead or a bunch of others.

I don't think the 2nd one is as good as the first. I don't think the songs are as strong and as someone else said it sounds like songs that didn't make the cut for the 1st album. I don't hate them or anything though. I feel the same way about The Hives too.

i have a live album of theirs, and half the time i honestly can't remember which songs are on which albums. Both are solid albums with very solid songs.

plus they put on a hell of a live show.

really?

i must've seen them on a very off night.

Never-were's. The Strokes are crap. In fact, they are one of the few bands that I can't listen to at all, because for some reason the sound they produce as a group throws me into an unfathomable rage.

There was a tremendous amount of hype before both records, but the hype leading up to Is This It was in circles like this, not the mainstream. If you had told the people at their label that they were going to get two gold records out of this band, they would have been thrilled back in 2001.

I like both records a lot, but have more appreciation for the first one. I don't know if its a decent gauge, but when a band is headlining a big theatre for $27 a pop with one 34 minute record to their name, I'd say they are doing pretty well. Its not their fault, but for every Kings of Leon & Louis XIV or whatever they are called, the Strokes get watered down outside of their own control.

people look forward to new rolling stones records?

He has killed a man before... He can kill again.

I think the new perception is that garage rock bands are now a dime a dozen, and for whatever reason, garage rock fans tend to move from one band to another, getting sick of an old sound/style and search for the next "big thing".

The Strokes as a "big thing" on the OC or whatever cultural machine is setting the standard is over, but they're still arguably the best garage rock band out there. And none of these groups would exist without Is This It? It's to nuvo garage rock what The Chronic is to gangsta rap.

Is This It? > Room On Fire

There's nothing really wrong with the second album; it just never got as much playing time.