The Strokes TOP 20 FOR REAL...

So!!! My good friend Laurie Koster didn't know about The Strokes...and that just so happens to be one of my specialties. I left the Rock N' Roll Motel (Laurie and Don's House) a couple days ago and I left my favorite two Strokes albums with Laurie, not that the 2nd and 3rd are bad, I just like the oldest and the newest. Before I start cranking out the list, I will provide why I love them so much.   Laurie Koster has baited me and inspired me to blog this thingy and now there's no turning back. She posted a Paste Magazine article about the top 20 Strokes songs...I do not agree with it! There are similarities, but One song doesn't belong in the top 20 at all, I had to use one up just to mention it. Don't worry, I doubled one up! Folks!

Back-story, (((My little sister Miss Keelie gave the nod when my good friend and first true band-mate Alex Beres (Atticus Hyde) gave me a copy of their first record after 09/11. She had heard of them around the same time...and whenever those two gave suggestions, I listened. They are also the reason for my love for Wilco, but that's for another time. Fabrizio Moretti (drums), Albert Hammond Jr. (guitar, b.vocals), Nick Valensi (guitar, b.vocals), and Nikolai Fraiture (bass) are the glue that holds the thing together long enough for Julian Casablancas (vocals)to do his thing. JC is a rocker, he doesn't give two crapolas of granola about anything really. He's often conflicted, which makes for a weird dynamic when you're the band leader, and chief songwriter. It's great, because the "Fabrizio Moretti 4" hold everything together while spaceman goes in and out of consciousness and pictures/ideas that exist inside of his head. Fab is one of the greatest drummers of our time people! Bottom Line...back to my point!)))

THE LIST. TOP 20 SONGS BY THE STROKES.

20.  "Hawaii" - The B-Side to "Juicebox" off their 3rd record First Impressions of Earth. It's typical Strokes, a little cheeky and a lot of fun. Julian Casablancas takes you on a voyage to the 50th state. Whether or not he's being serious about it being his favorite state, I would beg to differ... I always thought his favorite state was "Wasted" but I hear he's trying to sober up. ;) Good Luck Son, you rock 'n rolla you...

19.  "I Can't Win" - The spotty sophomore second album is capped off by this tune. It is the only thing that brings this record together for me, because the form meets the content. JC was already spent, he put all his indie rock beasts on the first record Is This It?. I don't think that he was prepared for how insane people would go over it and they rushed it on the second one. "Failing can be quite a breeze" he says. We know...better luck next time.

18.   "Ask Me Anything" - I enjoy this weird version of the Strokes. I dig the mellotron on the tune, I dig the vocal delivery as well. The vocal "harmless children, we named our soliders after you" always rings in my head. Good line. This song does NOT deserve to be in the top 10, probably not even the top 20, but I had to put it in there so that y'all would know. NOT TOP 10 MATERIAL... The whole first record is better than this song, as is their newest Angles. Goodness Paste Magazine, should I stop following you on Twitter?

17.  "You Only Live Once" - Not my favorite as well, but it's the same song as "I Want to Break Free" by Queen and Folks!!!...Queen Rocks. Yay for The Strokes, they steal from Queen instead of Def Leppard, bout time something changed...yes Nickle Back I'm talking to you! Dood, I Love the beat shifting around in this one, also love that Fab sounds like drum machine (wouldn't be there first time). Noah loves the hi-hat work... I think I heard him say that once.

16.  "Is This It?" - First song I heard from them even though "Last Nite" was the first I remembered and got stuck in my head. Alex Beres isn't going to play you the single off the record, he's gonna make you listen to it start to finish. This one opens up Is This It? with some weird junk that sounds like the noises I was making with the JMB-27 back in the Atticus Hyde days... my response to Alex "crazy noise at the beginning, I like it..." little did I know, The Strokes would be stuck to my very being for the next 10 years. Time is weird...so was the Jesus Mind Bender 27...my noise maker ;) Only one ever made. Bet you didn't know that.

15.   "Two Kinds of Happiness" - This Cars influenced tune is one of my favorites off the new record. Simple groove til the chrous when Fab goes insane (have no idea what the hell he's doing, still trying to sort it out in my head). The song starts off with the line "Happiness is two different things, what you take and what you bring" ... Okay, I like that JC, and this sounds like The Cars. You win! The chorus is a call to the people "Don't waste your heart!" ...Happiness? Balance? From The Strokes? I'm wondering what was in their PBR...whatever it was, it makes for some tasty hi-hat work.

14.  "Alone Together" - Nikolai Fraiture's kinetic bass-line moves this song around so swell it's kind of unbelievable. I listen to it less than some of the others on this disc because it will sometimes infect my brain so much that I developed a small twitch. He and Fab are at their best on this one. He does a trill like triplet thing right before the bridge that makes me wanna tear my hair out every time. Another well built jam. Could easily be top 10 if I did this list daily.

13.  "Juicebox" - (Mr. Noah Recommended) Strokey Stroke! Did you guys get more raunchy? With a nasty video of David Cross (Tobias Funke) radio DJ getting his groove on to a video of an elderly woman washing the floor, with hints of sex with an animal, people throwing up, gay sex in the public restroom? yeah...you guys are insane. That's cool though...driving drums, crunchy bass, Nick and Albert fill in the space to give the foundation some more push, and one of 'em follows JC on the pre-chorus, mimicking the vocal. One of the brighter points of First Impressions of Earth. It's nasty...and Yes, it's not easy standing in the light field Julian. You deserve another PBR.

12.  "The End Has No End" - "It's not the secrets of the government that's keeping ya dumb, it's the other way around. Wait, what's that sound?" Simple as that. It grabs me up pretty damn quick... WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT, WE ARE KEEPING THE GOVERNMENT DUMB. We watch their TV BS, we buy their garbage food, we drink the booze they regulate. Stop drinkin' PBR JC! :) What was I saying? Oh yeah...the government... commercial!

BUY ANGLES!!! It's the first Strokes album in 10 years worth buying. Joking... I bought all of 'em. I'm such a sucker... :)

11.  "Trying My Luck" - One of the weird ones to me... The way the beat breaks up in the piece between the first and second verse just builds this nervous energy, and is used later to send you into the guitar solo. Just a really well built Strokes' song. All five members are one on this track. The boys reach down and grab the metaphorical balls and this is one that probably gets overlooked in most of The Strokes Top 20 Lists ;) since there are so many.

10.  "12:51" - The first single off of their sophomore release. Solid work, I felt real promise...and upon going back and listening to it, Room on Fire isn't bad, it's just not great, much like the 3rd First Impressions of Earth. There's something about both of them, that seem very tired...and "12:51" was not that, it was like the first record, fresh and inventive with a lot of great textures going on. With the exception of a few tunes, "Reptilia" being one of them most of the 2nd record is "ehhh". So "Reptilia" gets honorable mention, but I've heard it too many times to put it on the top 20. It took 3 years to get from the 2nd record to the 3rd...so I listened to that, "12:51", "The End...", and "I Can't Win" A LOT...

9.  "Gratisfaction" & "Red Lite" -  HI-HAT!!! WOOOoooOOoo! Good stuff, both songs share the same spirit, both love talking about the ladies, granted "Gratisfaction is the better song....but "Red Lite" deserves a listen for the guitars. Both just a lot of fun to listen to and it could be that simple.

8.  "Take it or Leave it" -  Weird intro. Into typical "Strokes"...and then the lyric comes in "Leave me alone, I'm in control. I'm in control. Girls act too much, boys act too tough, enough is enough." So simple, is he talking about relationships or music? I thought he was  starting to take back music at least rock music, and he started leading rock back in the right direction. It's raw, that's for sure. The guitar solo is awesome, listen to the bass-line and kick drum during the guitar solo. It's legit stuff...

7.  "Soma" -  Draws up a crazy picture of the kids being kids and getting into drugs. Builds up great, the spaces left from the bass and then dropping it, the hits; it's all gravy.  One of the few, if not the only song off of the debut Is This It? I can think of that has drumrolls... hmmm?

6.  "Taken For a Fool" - Put the head phones on and disagree about it being in the top 10, layers of sounds and grooves... candy from the boys, seriously. When the chorus rolls around for the first time, the beat is restrained/incomplete and you get the full beat at the very end. As the song moves, it adds kicks until the finished product and the slow down roll ending. I really enjoy how this song is pieced together, lots of interesting parts...not their best and probably not as good as the single "Under Cover if Darkness, but a fun listen and very interesting.

5.  "NY City Cops" -  Great Song. Hard. Awesome. Everything about it. Love it. LOVE that they took it off their debut after 9/11 and released "When It Started" instead. Granted fans still heard and they still played it, but pure class from a bunch of kids at the time. I almost made it my #1 for that reason alone. Good move on taking if off, cause you probably could've capitalized more on it had you pushed it (especially in other countries that hate us). Cause it's a protest song, it's a folk song, it's a life song. Just a slice. Yep. You guys did your job good. Wowsers.

4.  "Under Cover of Darkness" -  You're back...and like Paste said with a jab to ole' chin of your buddy "Last Nite". Yes, Mr. Julian Casablancas everyone has been singing the same song for 10 years...including you.  When I heard that lyric for the first time, I smirked much like he does when he either forgets words, botches notes, or is too wasted to function. Great Line! Thanks for the apology, now when the next record comes around...you guys can all contribute and maybe hang with each other and make it truly together. JC did 98% (?) of the writing for the first 3 records... Angles has everyone's input on it, just Casablancas wasn't around for a lot of the sessions. EVEN STILL...great work!!!! The Essence is back, USE IT!!! And there's background vocals now too...they're spotty, but so is JC (live). Harsh, I know.

3.  "The Modern Age" - I agree paste. Third Best Song...Don't know what else to say about it.

2.  "Last Nite" - This was obviously the Game Changer for The Strokes. Insanely catchy, solid song. I've heard it a million times and will hear it a million more, I honestly can't believe it doesn't get old. This song changed my life as far what I was playing on drums, it was a new example of simplicity and respect for the song and instrument. Fab Moretti shows so much restraint in his grooves, so much that they often sound like drum machines...simple and thorough. Jealous. Great song, way better than Limp Bizkit.

1.  "Hard to Explain" - This song for me is the crowning achievement thus far. All the elements of The Strokes come together on this one. The breaks, the beats, the thumping bassline, one guitar chunking rhythm, while the other links up with the vocal phrasing. I really have no explanation for it, other than I feel like it captures the spirit of that first record in its simplicity, its groove, and its form.


PASTE LIST
20. 12:51
19. Fear of Sleep
18. Heart in a Cage
17. Is This It?
16. Modern Girls and Old-Fashioned Men
15. Someday
14. I Can't Win
13. The End Has No End
12. I'll Try Anything Once
11. Under Cover of Darkness
10. Ask Me Anything
9. Soma
8. Barely Legal
7. What Ever Happened?
6. You Only Live Once
5. Hard to Explain
4. NY City Cops
3. The Modern Age
2. Reptilia
1. Last Nite