Just downloaded it, so far seems to be an improvement from 'Room on Fire' which I thought was an under-rated album. The song "Ask me Anything" seems to be a dead rip of the Magnetic Fields (unless it's a cover I don't recognize, the download doesn't have song credits). But nonetheless a good rip. Thoughts?
Gravitas - it's a completly watered-down indie rock sound that has been mulled over by countless other indie rat bands since "this is it" first came out. There is little artistic progression and it's a perfect example of how "cookie-cutter-esque" most mainstream rock bands become after their first few hits.
Buy the Tom Vek album, or the Wold Parade disk if you want good indie.
I agree that the sound has been hashed over quite a bit since "This is It", but you have to give them some leeway considering they were one of the first, and nonetheless this is still an improvement on their sound. While it is in a more "poppy' direction, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. If you're looking for somebody who's doing new things in music, I don't really think that Tom Vek is all that distant from The Strokes (they seem to be influenced by the same 90's britpop and grunge, albeit with a little more electronica throw in for Mr. Vek). I like what I've heard of his album, but I wouldn't agree he's necessarily taking music in new directions. Added to that, classifying "indie" as a specific sound is what gets us into the argument in the first place. The second the Strokes were positioned as defining "indie" and not simply a rock n' roll resurgnence is the second the entire movement lost any worthwhile artistry. the beauty of indie music is its lack of an establishment to define the sound. But I guess we're way beyond that now, everything has pretty much been bastardized since and creating new important music is about as impossible as designing an interesting building in Washington, DC. Thanks for the opinion JP, haven't heard the Wolf Parade album yet, but keep hearing good things, I'll have to check it out.
to listen to the new album online (totally legal!) visit: http://3voor12.vpro.nl/3voor12/index.jsp mouseclick 'luisterpaal', scroll down using 'omlaag'. click album cover to play. listen, don't discuss.
GRAVITAS - how old are you? Do you honestly think the Strokes were one of the first in the indie scene?
I think the Books, Avery Tare and Panda Bear [Animal Collective, et all] and countless other bands are blending genres and producing rock music that could label them as Auteurs in one way or another.
prolly is totally right...
strokes were no where near the front of the indie scene... they may be one of the first 'indie' bands that had some comercial success, but they broke no ground other than in there popularity.
the strokes arent overrated, they just arent that good, which is why they are popular
I don't mean to come across as being pretentious or act like i'm older than you, after reading what I just wrote, I wish Archinect had an edit button... heh.
I just think after their first album they should have just quit. Harsh, yes, but we've all got our opinions right?
Seriously, the Wolf Parade album is great and while the Tom Vek album isn't anything "groundbreaking" - it is a wonderfully composed piece of electro-rock.
The Books are groundbreaking... Prefuse 73 even knows that shiii cuuuuuu!
wolf parade is pretty good, there have been lots of really good albums out these days, and though i must admit, i was a big fan of the strokes when they 'is this it' came out, i never listened after that.
books being groundbreaking is right on... they are out there...
but radiohead is still the most progressive band on earth
hehe
in my oh so humble oppinion
Prolly, I didn't say they were one of the first on the indie scene, I was talking about being one of the first to resurrect the rock n roll sound and style which is now so prevelent. Obviously there were many bands who had been doing that, but the Strokes because of timing, place, radio friendly sound etc. defined the reaction to over produced boy bands and became the figure head for that type of sound. I would certainly consider Animal Collective and The Books as more groundbreaking music than The Storkes, especially when compared to their current album. But if you're going to rip on bands that have been recycling sound, Radiohead stopped innovating at Amnesiac.
The whole "indie" thing reminds me of when I was in high school and in a (shitty) band. We all loved the Velvet Underground, but didn't know much about the history of rock music or anything like that, and had read about them being described as "avant-garde" at one point. So whenever we introduced a song with a Velvets-influenced sound, we said it had an avant garde feel to it. I have old casette tapes of our shows and it kills me to hear me say, "This next song has an avant garde sound to it." God, talk about misuse of words and wishing you could go back and edit things. I feel like all these people throwing around "indie rock" or "indie pop" are like me back that.
i love rivers cuomo... hes the shit... even though his band is now shit... poor poor weezer how i adored thee.
radiohead has not stopped innovating.... hail to the thief was still more progressive than most albums out that same year. if you believe its not innovative, your fooling yourself. they may have reused a few ideas from previous albums, but radiohead creates so many new ideas with each album, its almost necessary for them to occasionally reinforce a few of them, to find out which direction they will go next.
My first band was called "Pitch Black," and goddamn were we badass. I was also in a band in college called "Meatpipe." Also kicked ass. Anybody else got any former bad band names?
my first band was a 3-piece in high school and was called "Intolerance"...we played grindcore (dope shit!)...then in 96 i was in a band called "Ditch", which was a rage against the machine/korn rip off...we sucked!...
SUNN 0))) call themselves such because those are the amps that the band Earth prefers, and Sunn essentially started out as an Earth tribute band.
I've also been heavy into the doom metal lately.
and that goddamn espers album of covers.
and i found the new cat power and really really like it a lot.
sorry this has nothing to do with the strokes, but i've been bored with discussions about "indie rock" since 2000.
I think the album is very good, but tot as good as Is This It.
Two songs stand out for me:
Heart in a Cage and my personal favourite Vision of Division.
In terms of the album evolving from itsx previous, I would say that no it hasn't drastically but it has on certain tracks; most obviously in Ask Me Anything.
Admitadly when I heard the first song (you only live once) I thought they turned pop but listening to the rest I was pleasently releaved.
Stephanie, everything I've heard from the new Cat Power album has been great, do you have an advance copy or know where I oculd hear the rest of the album (other than the three songs on their website)?
I think My friends and I spend more time thinking of our band name then we do actually rehearsing. Some of our more infamous ones have included:
Buttermilk Embryos (a jazz fusion, porn music type band)
Surrender Dorothy
Angry Ants Advance
!No Whey! (A Vegetarian Hardcore Band)
jc3 (A concept band where each of the members dressed up as one of the following: Jimmy Carter, Jesus Christ or Jiminy Cricket)
Binary Rock (A jam band with no vocals, just humming)
god i know there are more i just cant think of them right now.
My band in college played two shows, practiced twice, had two songs (including the cover of "we're not gonna take it" which, I might add, was better than Chokehold's cover of the song)and had two names in the process:
1. Ra'ashan (hebrew for The Noisemaker)
2. The Golden Anniversary (named after the beer being served at the second show we played)
I think we lasted about four days before we broke up over creative differences.
x NoWhey x would have been too literal, We were at the height of our ironic phase then. and the JC3 was a lounge act. we were the "house band" for a couple of comedy cabaret shows whose mc was dressed as skelator and sang showtunes from "annie" it was seriously one of the best times of my life. Jesus and Jimmy carter on vocels, Jimmy carter (me) also played piano. Jiminy cricket on drums.
besides, how many lead singers are named john or rob or engelbert. As much as i love propaghandi, we really werent a good crossover band between their listeners and ours. Most likely none of Propaghandi's fans would have ever had the privelage to see the JC3 play and if they had you would recognize them as the ones walking around with their minds blown. probably drooling and muttering something about how they found god. . .and he's a baritone. :)
Thoughts on the new Strokes album...
Just downloaded it, so far seems to be an improvement from 'Room on Fire' which I thought was an under-rated album. The song "Ask me Anything" seems to be a dead rip of the Magnetic Fields (unless it's a cover I don't recognize, the download doesn't have song credits). But nonetheless a good rip. Thoughts?
is it released yet? where are you getting it from?
Came out today. I downloaded it from itunes.
i think i got it about 8 days ago. :)
The new Tom Vek album is far superior to these washed up clowns. The new Strokes CD is horrid.
can you elaborate on your denunciation of the album as horrid?
you strokers prolly know that the singers father wrote
"it never rains in california" among many others...
Gravitas - it's a completly watered-down indie rock sound that has been mulled over by countless other indie rat bands since "this is it" first came out. There is little artistic progression and it's a perfect example of how "cookie-cutter-esque" most mainstream rock bands become after their first few hits.
Buy the Tom Vek album, or the Wold Parade disk if you want good indie.
I agree that the sound has been hashed over quite a bit since "This is It", but you have to give them some leeway considering they were one of the first, and nonetheless this is still an improvement on their sound. While it is in a more "poppy' direction, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. If you're looking for somebody who's doing new things in music, I don't really think that Tom Vek is all that distant from The Strokes (they seem to be influenced by the same 90's britpop and grunge, albeit with a little more electronica throw in for Mr. Vek). I like what I've heard of his album, but I wouldn't agree he's necessarily taking music in new directions. Added to that, classifying "indie" as a specific sound is what gets us into the argument in the first place. The second the Strokes were positioned as defining "indie" and not simply a rock n' roll resurgnence is the second the entire movement lost any worthwhile artistry. the beauty of indie music is its lack of an establishment to define the sound. But I guess we're way beyond that now, everything has pretty much been bastardized since and creating new important music is about as impossible as designing an interesting building in Washington, DC. Thanks for the opinion JP, haven't heard the Wolf Parade album yet, but keep hearing good things, I'll have to check it out.
to listen to the new album online (totally legal!) visit: http://3voor12.vpro.nl/3voor12/index.jsp mouseclick 'luisterpaal', scroll down using 'omlaag'. click album cover to play. listen, don't discuss.
Just my opinion. That first Strokes release was an irresistable little pop collection but all sounded the same after awhile.
GRAVITAS - how old are you? Do you honestly think the Strokes were one of the first in the indie scene?
I think the Books, Avery Tare and Panda Bear [Animal Collective, et all] and countless other bands are blending genres and producing rock music that could label them as Auteurs in one way or another.
I just think the Strokes are overrated
prolly is totally right...
strokes were no where near the front of the indie scene... they may be one of the first 'indie' bands that had some comercial success, but they broke no ground other than in there popularity.
the strokes arent overrated, they just arent that good, which is why they are popular
I don't mean to come across as being pretentious or act like i'm older than you, after reading what I just wrote, I wish Archinect had an edit button... heh.
I just think after their first album they should have just quit. Harsh, yes, but we've all got our opinions right?
I agree JohnProlly.
Seriously, the Wolf Parade album is great and while the Tom Vek album isn't anything "groundbreaking" - it is a wonderfully composed piece of electro-rock.
The Books are groundbreaking... Prefuse 73 even knows that shiii cuuuuuu!
wolf parade is pretty good, there have been lots of really good albums out these days, and though i must admit, i was a big fan of the strokes when they 'is this it' came out, i never listened after that.
books being groundbreaking is right on... they are out there...
but radiohead is still the most progressive band on earth
hehe
in my oh so humble oppinion
Radiohead continues to amaze me even thought I cannot STAND Thom York's vocals. They make me want to jab a hot poker into my ears.
talk about an over rated band...
Get away from harmonies and rhythms ... listen to Sunn O))), Earth, or Growing.
Prolly, I didn't say they were one of the first on the indie scene, I was talking about being one of the first to resurrect the rock n roll sound and style which is now so prevelent. Obviously there were many bands who had been doing that, but the Strokes because of timing, place, radio friendly sound etc. defined the reaction to over produced boy bands and became the figure head for that type of sound. I would certainly consider Animal Collective and The Books as more groundbreaking music than The Storkes, especially when compared to their current album. But if you're going to rip on bands that have been recycling sound, Radiohead stopped innovating at Amnesiac.
ta ta ta
Sunn 0)))'s new cd is very very nice - reminds me of Jesu or a more sedated Pelican / Isis.
Sorry for the diatribe, I digress...
The whole "indie" thing reminds me of when I was in high school and in a (shitty) band. We all loved the Velvet Underground, but didn't know much about the history of rock music or anything like that, and had read about them being described as "avant-garde" at one point. So whenever we introduced a song with a Velvets-influenced sound, we said it had an avant garde feel to it. I have old casette tapes of our shows and it kills me to hear me say, "This next song has an avant garde sound to it." God, talk about misuse of words and wishing you could go back and edit things. I feel like all these people throwing around "indie rock" or "indie pop" are like me back that.
speaking of wishing you could edit, I always promised myself I'd never refer to the Velvet Underground as the Velvets. fuck
rivers cuomo was in a metal band called "avant garde"
i love rivers cuomo... hes the shit... even though his band is now shit... poor poor weezer how i adored thee.
radiohead has not stopped innovating.... hail to the thief was still more progressive than most albums out that same year. if you believe its not innovative, your fooling yourself. they may have reused a few ideas from previous albums, but radiohead creates so many new ideas with each album, its almost necessary for them to occasionally reinforce a few of them, to find out which direction they will go next.
no need to get into radiohead though
i could talk alllllll day long
hysterical and useless
Question: which one of those five dudes is Rivers?
Answer: Rivers in the one with the big hair.
rivers is in the middle
Dude, he's so beverly hills.......
Prolly: now Youth of Today, they were onto something...
Just listened to the new Strokes album via link above. How awful.
What's the story behind Sunn O))) taking the amplifier log and name?
Heh. Def duder.
My first band was called "Pitch Black," and goddamn were we badass. I was also in a band in college called "Meatpipe." Also kicked ass. Anybody else got any former bad band names?
REO Speedweenie, we were a cover band.
haha,
my first band had several names... played our first 3 shows as a different name each time
they included
pen 15
chief wiggam
1/3 haji
the last name was not well recieved, though our drummer aroon picked the name
band number two also had several names.
they included
go faster stripe
pop songs
ashland
Olathe
olathe stuck longest and thats my current bands name
my first band was a 3-piece in high school and was called "Intolerance"...we played grindcore (dope shit!)...then in 96 i was in a band called "Ditch", which was a rage against the machine/korn rip off...we sucked!...
SUNN 0))) call themselves such because those are the amps that the band Earth prefers, and Sunn essentially started out as an Earth tribute band.
I've also been heavy into the doom metal lately.
and that goddamn espers album of covers.
and i found the new cat power and really really like it a lot.
sorry this has nothing to do with the strokes, but i've been bored with discussions about "indie rock" since 2000.
I think the album is very good, but tot as good as Is This It.
Two songs stand out for me:
Heart in a Cage and my personal favourite Vision of Division.
In terms of the album evolving from itsx previous, I would say that no it hasn't drastically but it has on certain tracks; most obviously in Ask Me Anything.
Admitadly when I heard the first song (you only live once) I thought they turned pop but listening to the rest I was pleasently releaved.
i quite liked the first couple of albums but i saw them on top of the pops before Xmas and i thought the single they played was shockingly bad.
Stephanie, everything I've heard from the new Cat Power album has been great, do you have an advance copy or know where I oculd hear the rest of the album (other than the three songs on their website)?
Stephanie - you need to peep some Dimmu Borgir. "Death Cult Armageddon".
The new Cat Power is great - that's Soulseek for you. 'been had that shit for weeks now.
Still though, Jesu is pretty dark and heavy shit - not to mention Pelican. Two Favs.
I think My friends and I spend more time thinking of our band name then we do actually rehearsing. Some of our more infamous ones have included:
Buttermilk Embryos (a jazz fusion, porn music type band)
Surrender Dorothy
Angry Ants Advance
!No Whey! (A Vegetarian Hardcore Band)
jc3 (A concept band where each of the members dressed up as one of the following: Jimmy Carter, Jesus Christ or Jiminy Cricket)
Binary Rock (A jam band with no vocals, just humming)
god i know there are more i just cant think of them right now.
the veggie hardcore should be
x NoWhey x
and propagandi's lead singer is named Jesus, you can't do that.
My band in college played two shows, practiced twice, had two songs (including the cover of "we're not gonna take it" which, I might add, was better than Chokehold's cover of the song)and had two names in the process:
1. Ra'ashan (hebrew for The Noisemaker)
2. The Golden Anniversary (named after the beer being served at the second show we played)
I think we lasted about four days before we broke up over creative differences.
x NoWhey x would have been too literal, We were at the height of our ironic phase then. and the JC3 was a lounge act. we were the "house band" for a couple of comedy cabaret shows whose mc was dressed as skelator and sang showtunes from "annie" it was seriously one of the best times of my life. Jesus and Jimmy carter on vocels, Jimmy carter (me) also played piano. Jiminy cricket on drums.
besides, how many lead singers are named john or rob or engelbert. As much as i love propaghandi, we really werent a good crossover band between their listeners and ours. Most likely none of Propaghandi's fans would have ever had the privelage to see the JC3 play and if they had you would recognize them as the ones walking around with their minds blown. probably drooling and muttering something about how they found god. . .and he's a baritone. :)
Names of High School Bands I Played In - 1985-1989 (A Real List)
1. The Ugly Neighbors
2. Devil Donkey
3. Fartblossom
4. Sandinista Love Bandit
5. Big Snuffy
6. Moving Butter
7. Bean Truck 1990
8. Give Gilden A Burrito
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