Jingle Punks - Under Cover of Darkness (Strokes Cover)

"UCoD" is perfect in it's essential Strokiness.  It's not a very good song, it doesn't really do anything...but I absolutely love it.  Isn't that what every good Strokes song is all about?

No?

Oh.

Well...that's how it works for me, anyway.
So...yeah.

The Strokes - Machu Picchu

   The Strokes - Machu Picchu by allstarsandrew

::approving nod::
I'll take it.  No stunner, but I'd jam it on shuffle.
But this makes 4 songs we've heard from the album that's still 2 weeks away from release.  I think I have to stop listening to new shit when it "leaks".  Gotta leave myself some sort of surprise.

The Strokes - Life Is Simpler In the Moonlight

OK.  The last jam had me a little worried, but we're back to that ol' fashioned Strokey goodness.  But are they about to Kanye this shit and let 3/4 of the album go before the release date?  Dangerous move.

The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness

Good timing.  Now I can repress the negative feelings I have for the 2nd song they released yesterday.  Lets just focus on this one.  Good times.

Casablancas really is great at being terrible, isn't he?

Random Thought: Why don't rock icons come out with shitty clothing labels like rappers do?  Couldn't he sell a ton of funny looking clothes at Urban Outfitters?  This is why I should be someone's agent/manager.  If fact, let's make this happen?  Any small bands out there want me to steer the ship of their careers?  Is that what you do with a ship?  Steer it?  I'm not up on my nautical terms.  Whatever you do to make a shit go where you want it to go...I will do that to your band.  In a means that is financially advantage to myself, and (possibly) you as well.

The Strokes - You're So Right

   The Strokes - You´re So Right by pepearljam2010

Speaking of instant traffic generators...
The Strokes have let loose the b-side to their comeback album's lead single (which I love).

I am now nervous about this album.

The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness (Full)...and a ramble

 

The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness (Gratis) by SateliteMedia
That sound you hear is all of Lower Manhattan coming to a sudden stop.
The Strokes are back, ladies and gentlemen!  Leather jackets and aviators for everyone!

The snippet has been out for a while, but I fuckin' hate snippets.  Now we have the whole thing, and you know what...it sounds exactly like The Strokes.  Depending on what you wanted out of their new work, that's either great or horrible.  For me, it's fantastic.  I'm already stuck in a time warp, yearning for the "good old days" of less than a decade ago, so this is wonderful.  Had this come out in 2008/9, I would have hated it, but now, I need it.  Thank you, The Strokes!

Here's to a total lack of progression (that actually comes off as progressive in today's scene)!

UPDATE:  Dammit, this song makes me happy.  Not just for the return of The Strokes in and of itself, but for the potential that their next album has to shift music back to where I want it.  I'm really , really, really, really sick and tired of the gloomy, go nowhere lo-fi shit.  I can't take it anymore.  As dope as Chillwave and all that was when it first hit, it moved everything in a dull, lifeless direction.  It's been forever since I listed to an "indie" "rock" "album" that immediately made me want to get up and go to a shitty bar and drop $20 in the jukebox.  I MISS THAT FEELING!  I miss New York City.  I miss guitars.  I miss canned beer.  I miss hearing first recordings from bands that sound like they've only had instruments for 3 weeks.  I miss the Loop Lounge.  I miss Court Tavern.  Even when their music wasn't that great towards the end, The Strokes embodied all of that.  They meant more symbolically than literally.  359 days ago, when buzz was beginning that The Strokes were set to return, I wondered aloud if that was actually a good thing, considering how we as fans react to what we love once its been gone for a while and finally returns.  My thoughts then were that we'd all be better off just holding on to the music we had...but now that new stuff is here, I can safely say Fuck That Noise...THE STROKES ARE BACK, and dammit, I pray that they can change things this time they way they did before.

Random Thoughts #9: "Is This It?" No...But It Probably Should Be

Honest Question:  At this point, aren't we all better off if The Strokes didn't release another album?
There's no way anyone is going to like it, right?

For the record, I am very much a fan of The Strokes.  Their music will forever be the musical essence of the New York City I knew during the most socially active part of my life.  That said...I know how music fans, particularly the kind of people who listen to The Strokes, tend to operate.  I can only see three possible reactions to the album they are supposedly releasing in September:
1)  (If they keep the same vibe as before)  "This sounds like 5yrs ago.  It's shit".
2)  (If they try something new with their sound)  "WTF, this doesn't even sound like The Strokes.  It's shit."
3)  (If they land somewhere in between)  "OMG, I just realized that they've always sucked.  It was ALL shit."

Considering this...shouldn't they just call it a day?
Let the memories and their iconic status rest in the beautiful place its made for itself.
I don't know.  I think they're on the path to some major legacy damage.

FAUX FUR FAIRY TALE: The Strokes

There was once a mighty beast named Voltron who patrolled the streets of New York City, and kept its young people safe from the evil forces of pop radio and boring, American whiskey-rock.  The Voltron Force comprised of 5 lions who came together to form one of the greatest heroes NYC had ever known.  Then, very suddenly...the City grew dark, and the skies went quiet.  Voltron was nowhere to be found.  In time, NY came alive again, but it wasn't the same.  Chain-smoking, "ironic" trust-funders from The Village became neon-highlighted electronic marauders from Brooklyn.  Just when the City needed Voltron the most...word spread of their return...

Only this time, the Voltron Force didn't arrive as one, but as 5 individuals . . .and they sucked.
The end.

Julian Casablancas Doin' The Solo Thang

No jams yet, but if ever there was an occurrence that would have "da innanet goin' nuts", it's The Strokes' ever incomprehensible lead singer dropping a solo LP. Release of Phrazes For The Young is set for some time in the fall.

This HAS to be better than Albert Hammond Jr.'s thing, right?! I saw homie live twice in "support" of Bloc Party and...who the hell was the other show...Incubus, yes. Both times, there was a mass rush to the back of the joint as people scrambled to get overpriced beer rather than be put to sleep by the misguided Stroke.

Believe it or not, this is apparently the first time I've referenced The Strokes on this (11 month old) blog. Time for an album, gentlemen!