I was on the verge of not writing this Essentiality Review. 2021 has been a very weird year in the sense that I thought I would write more, especially reviews of new albums, but it hasn’t been like that. Writer’s block? Laziness? Stress? Whatever it is, I hope 2022 comes with more, I guess, inspiration, because intention is there. In any case, since the year started, Is This It was on the to-be-reviewed list, so despite everything, I finally found words to dedicate to it, ultimately because it deserves them. 

Not only The Strokes debut is an album that more or less serves as a frame of reference for the 21st century’s indie and alternative rock scenes, also it practically turns 20 for half of the year. The official first release in Australia was on July 30, 2001, but it was released in several countries on different dates and, most importantly, it has two release dates in the US, one is 9/11, only the vinyl, and the other October 9th for the CD, that was delayed because of the 9/11 attacks and had the tracklist changed for the same reason. 

All of this is relevant because it adds up to how important Is This It actually is. All this wouldn’t matter if The Strokes had made a better album to this day (which they haven’t, come on) or if the album hadn’t took the music scene by surprise and single-handedly revitalized a genre that was, if anything, only anchored by bands from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, the 90s had the likes of Pavement and Weezer, but Julian Casablancas and co. brought liveliness, tightness and purpose to the mix that just wasn’t present on anything before. 

The post-punk inspirations are there and also, The Strokes being from New York, there’s clear influences of the late 70s new wave and art-punk scenes that were in their prime in that city, however the record still sounds fresh and vital. The band has a rapport rarely seen in bands from that time, only Room on Fire reaches this album’s levels of evident cohesiveness. Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr’s intertwining guitars, Fabrizio Moretti and Nicolai Fraiture heartbeat rhythms and Julian Casablancas unmistakable delivery are at their absolute best. They were a rock band to be reckoned with and cemented their own sounds right from their first major release.

Furthermore, Is This It simple lyricism, which encompasses life and relationships of young people in New York, has also something to do with the universal feel of the record. It may sound specific or even individualistic but Julian sells it. From his almost speaking delivery to his more raspy yelps, the vocalist becomes pivotal in giving an ulterior meaning to his words which are produced to glide over the instrumentals and are also propelled by the music. It has a rough sheen to it, a trait that has become key to the general perception of the record, and, in this writer’s opinion, contributes to its continued and wide-reaching appeal over the years. 

So, has it aged well? Well I got a first hand experience of that. Due to their lackluster later records, I lost interest in seeing the band live, more influenced by the fact that many other artists and bands were grabbing my attention. Nonetheless, I unexpectedly was able to catch them in a festival in Mexico City in 2019. The songs of Is This It were the main show. (They didn’t even play songs outside from their first three albums, surprisingly). ‘Last Night’ still invites you to shuffle your feet, ‘Hard To Explain’ is still a propulsive and poignant tune, ‘Someday’ is as fun as ever and ‘New York City Cops’ pierces quite hard without losing any of its spark. 

I certainly noticed that the band seemed and sounded cohesive that day. Something that would be showcased on their 2020 release The New Abnormal, which for me was a decent return to form, with some very good balladry and vocal delivery. Was there something that didn’t allow the band to come through their 2010 output quite assuredly as in their first two albums? There’s probably lengthy discussion around that, but there’s something that has always been simple when it comes to The Strokes: who knows what the future may bring, Is This It has left its mark, a quite unimpeachable one at that, and we might as well enjoy it, because it is an album that’s got everything to do so, 20 years on. Why? We may never ever gonna understand.