Is This It - The Strokes
- Sara Ramirez
- Mar 27
- 2 min read
by Sara Ramirez
Melancholic, rebellious, and effortlessly cool are perfect ways to describe Is This It by The Strokes. Released in 2001, Is This It was The Stroke’s debut album and is widely considered one of the best debut albums in Rock history.
Julian Casablancas’ charm and catchy lyrics are what makes it so addictive. It blends seamlessly with the instruments and creates a one-of-a-kind sound that makes you understand why Alex Turner from The Arctic Monkeys said “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes” in their song, Star Treatment. It incorporates sounds from distorted but clean guitars, amazing drumming, and can't help making the listener want to get up and dance.
Lyrically, the record serves justice to a typical high school “not yet an adult but also not a child” experience- boredom, messy relationships, and filled with angst. All the songs being fast paced mirror the need we once had to grow up and to leave the town we grew up in. Similarly, this is seen in Someday, a song characterized by working hard, wasting no time, and trying your best. Nothing feels forced; nothing feels dramatized; it sounds like real conversations had between two people who may have been once in love. A lot of the lyrics are very interesting to analyze and interpret, some favorites being “And now my fears, they come to me in threes so I, sometimes say, "Fate, my friend, you say the strangest things I find sometimes"” from Someday and “Things, they have changed in such a permanent way. Life seems unreal, can we go back to your place?” From Alone, Together.
What also sets apart Is This It, is its influence. Following the release of this album, there was an outbreak of indie garage bands around the music scene. It had a sort of “less is more” feel to it and proved that musicians don't need overproduction or complex skills to create a memorable album.
Overall, Is This It will never not be iconic. Something very commendable about this album is that the theme stays the same all throughout; Casablancas carries the nonchalant, but Loverboy feels in each song, which is what makes it so relatable. It’s raw, witty, and unforgettable- exactly what makes it one of the most defining albums of its era.
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