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Strokes of genius They've conquered their home turf of New York City, saw their brief career skyrocket with British critical and sales accolades, returned to America and gathered same, did the crucial "Saturday Night Live" gig a couple of weeks back, and now The Strokes will be on their way to Honolulu and ... what??
Will Honolulu's music lovers
take notice and listen?By Gary C. W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comIf your musical tastes aren't wholly derived from schlock rock commercial radio stations, and you've actually listened to the band's breakout debut CD, "Is This It," congratulations! Consider yourself one of the few local hipoisie that will go see The Strokes perform next Thursday. Local promoter Goldenvoice is hoping, of course, that enough people will buy tickets so the concert doesn't end up as one of those great afterword-of-mouth events that you should've gone to. Just consider us lucky that the band decided to do a show at World Cafe en route toward the eager, welcoming arms of Japan fans.
But advance word on the band's onstage demeanor is that the five of them -- singer Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fab Moretti -- aren't exactly going to try to ingratiate themselves with an audience that's never seen them before with typical rabble-rousing rock star postures and antics. They're just too damn cool for that sort of nonsense.
With local opening band The Sticklers The Strokes
Where: World Cafe, 1130 N. Nimitz Highway
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, doors open at 6:30
Admission: $20
Call: 599-5764
As evident on their acclaimed album, these prep-school boys have got their references down pat. It's the Velvet Underground (arty ennui with spare, carefully interlocked instrumentation) mixed with a touch of its British punk offspring like Joy Division and the Buzzcocks. Most of the songs have a curious evanescent quality. Afterward, there's nothing much resonating in your head.
But there are exceptions. The album's lead single and video, the insistent "Last Nite," is a bit of tossed-off genius, and there are enough tracks spread across "Is This It's" breadth -- "Barely Legal," "Alone, Together," "Hard to Explain" and "Take It or Leave It" -- that make you feel these scruffily-styled sophisticates have got a career ahead of them longer than 15 minutes.
"I think (the English music press) loves them because they combine all the qualities rock 'n' roll should have," New Musical Express writer April Long said in last October's CMJ New Music Monthly. "Intelligence, style and songs which sound fresh and innovative while also evoking a hallowed era that everyone secretly wishes they could return to.
"It was a bit of a gamble for (the Express to) promote them so ardently, but I think everyone is relieved to have some kind of alternative to the boring 'nü metal' that's been pouring in from the States," she said.
And that's the crux of the matter, both here and on the mainland, concerning the bulk of current rock fans' tastes. It's "nü metal" that still packs them in, for all its bluster and pseudo-rage. It's not enough to just ooh-and-aah and be duly impressed with The Strokes' savvy musical credentials. While a mosh pit at their concert would be ridiculously out-of-place, the band's got to at least make the collective body move to their music, and make us CARE for what they're playing.
We'll see what happens next Thursday.
For an advance taste of the band in concert, a special half-hour live telecast from Los Angeles is scheduled to air on MTV2 tomorrow. Check the program guide of your particular digital cable service for the specific time and channel.
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