The first forgettable record of 2006.

posted by RICK : 4:55 PM

Like the rest of America that is still hopelessly clinging onto the early aughts, yesterday I picked up First Impressions of Earth" by one-time supergroup The Strokes. I'm not going to say I was excited for its release, as I wasn't, but I was hoping that it would be a pleasant gem in an otherwise cold, unforgiving winter. I've had the record for about 24 hours as of this writing and have yet to get all the way through it (mostly because of time constraints and my lack of iPod), but that being said what I've heard couldn't be more boring-- or at the very least-- couldn't descend into complacency quicker. The first two tracks are exactly what I was hoping for, but then it just turns into the jangle-jangle-whine-whine formula that they never really had in the past, but always hinted at.

The very first time I heard The Stokes was on Halloween night in 2001, when I bought myself tickets to their first NYC show after the record ("Is This It?") was released. That show kicked ass. I wasn't even sure if this was a band I liked or not. All I could tell was that the crowd was going nuts, and I wasn't certain if I'd make it off the Hammerstein floor alive. Perhaps more interestingly, I didn't know at the time that this was suppose to be the Jesus Christ of rock and roll that was going to come down from the heavens and save us from a world of ultra-produced boy-bands and rap-metal. Now, I see that in order to have fulfilled the prophecy they had to eventually die. At the time I was never of the opinion, unlike many, that this band WAS the end-all, and by the time I actually got their record and decided "hey, these kids are good," the moment had already passed and the Hipster-Pontious-Pilot had called for their heads.

When the dust settles, I'm sure I'll look back (perhaps like I did with Weezer's "Make Believe") and declare "First Impressions of Earth" to be a decent record. Hell, it may even start climbing in playcount years from now when I go through my library and think, "Oh yeah, this band was awesome once!" Unfortunately, until that moment comes I'm stuck with a boring record from a band that is no longer relevent in the ever expanding family tree of rock and roll.

In other sad music news...
It has been reported that pianist/pop-freak Nellie McKay has been dropped by Columbia Records. Apparently, she wanted to release her next album (originally due this coming Tuesday) with 23 songs, and they wanted to release it with 16-songs. Why, in the age of digital music this is even an issue is absolutely beyond me, but apparently she was trying to get out of the label anyway.

Her best quote on the situation:

"It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why. They kept the coffee pot, I got the dog.” She added, “All that matters to me is that I can continue to make irritating music which will baffle and enrage."
-AP

I hope the record still comes out.

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