But even the lead review in Rolling Stone, written by one of its top editors, doesn't compare to the clip their publicist has just shown them. As they wind down from shooting their first video, for the single "Last Nite," the boys can't help but beam with genuine pride.
A glowing review in the raunchy porn magazine Hustler brings smiles to their faces and high-fives all around. For them, this is more of an accomplishment than even a Rolling Stone cover story, seemingly the only accolade that hasn't yet been showered on them. But it's exactly the kind of reaction you'd expect from these rock and roll wonder boys.
Meet the Strokes, five friends from New York with a penchant for early punk rock, a shabby-chic wardrobe plucked from the pages of a downtown fashion magazine, and an attitude that's as freewheeling as their unkempt hair.
It's not every day that a band can inspire a renewed faith in rock music, but the Strokes' fresh blast of punk is doing just that for many of the critics and fans who've heard them. At a time when mainstream radio often feels like a long string of mass-produced, coarse, bland attitude, the Strokes are giving even the most jaded cynics something to hang their hopes on.
The quintet began to rouse anticipation that the tide could be shifting long before the release of Is This It. In November 2000, before they had even dreamed of recording an album, the Strokes were already turning heads with an EP originally used as a demo to get gigs. In three songs — "The Modern Age," "Last Nite" and "Barely Legal" — the Strokes' retro-punk sound and attitude were enough to make critics gush, rock fans rejoice and spur a bidding war that resulted in a major-label album.
"A lot of people are excited when they hear something new," singer Julian Casablancas said, slumped on a couch with his bandmates. "Everyone is just like, 'We need something new or we're gonna freak,' and when they hear us it seems like we spark something positive that's a lot more universal."
There isn't a rap, scratch, distorted power chord or lyric about a dysfunctional upbringing on Is This It. The Strokes didn't make a conscious effort to ignore convention with the LP. They claim they just didn't know any better.
"We're not purposely trying to be different than anything else going on," Casablancas explained. "The bottom line is we don't really listen to the radio. We're not really into what's popular. We've been sort of doing our own thing. So I think our product is pretty modern, but it's definitely not modern in terms of what's popular today."
The grubby toughness that permeates everything about the Strokes originated with the Rolling Stones and hasn't been seen since Nirvana. Their music, nuggets of well-crafted pop melodies, energetic rhythms and heroic guitars loosely wrapped in pages torn from back issues of Creem magazine, is accompanied by the confidence essential to pulling it off.
But they view their situation less as anointed saviors of rock and more like a group of friends just playing the music they love. The wave of hype began in Britain earlier this year, recently crashed the U.S. shores, and they seem to be trying to just make the most of it.
They're most relaxed when goofing around together, in this case, jokingly responding to a question about how they picked up their first instruments ("with our hands") and speculating on which Spice Girl they most resemble (without naming names, they settle on Posh, Scary, Hairy and Slutty). As close friends often do, they'll finish one another's sentences. But despite their prep-school upbringing, their answers to questions they've been asked dozens of times aren't as eloquent as they might be. They curse a lot, a habit Casablancas — whose old man founded the Elite modeling agency — said he's trying to curb, often by substituting "freak" for something more naughty.
But give them some beer, a fresh pack of smokes and an informed conversation about bands like Guided by Voices or the Cars — two idols/influences — and they're right at home.
Casablancas, 23; drummer Fabrizio Moretti, 21; bassist Nikolai Fraiture, 22; and guitarist Nick Valensi, 20, met while attending the Dwight School, a private prep school in New York's Upper West Side. Guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. — whose father scored a pop hit in the '70s with "It Never Rains in Southern California" — was introduced to Casablancas at a Swiss boarding school in the early '90s. Hammond moved from Los Angeles to New York two years ago and reunited with his former classmate.
"When it came time to doing music, it was much easier to communicate because you already had that friendship thing," Casablacas said. "So it really, really makes a lot of touring and everything else we do pleasant."
The Modern Age was released in the U.K. in January, garnering rave reviews. After a weekly residency at New York's Mercury Lounge last December to initiate hometown buzz, the band embarked on a monthlong British tour to support the EP. Though complete unknowns three months prior, by the time the Strokes came home, they were hailed as heroes.
The group's showcase at Austin's South by Southwest music conference in March sparked a bidding war won by RCA Records. Since recording their full-length debut in some fancy studio might have cramped their low-rent style, they instead opted to track in a basement on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
The resulting album sounds every bit as free-spirited and wild as the bandmembers. The title track lumbers along a midtempo rhythm while a lazy Casablancas, aloof and unaffected, wonders if this, whatever "this" happens to be, is really it. On "The Modern Age," the singer channels the vocal mannerisms of Lou Reed as the song plods through a simple strum until it surprises with a wiry, fiery MC5-style guitar solo.
The Strokes' foundation in '70s American punk frequently draws comparisons with artists such as Television, Iggy Pop, the New York Dolls, Reed and the MC5. While flattering, the comparisons have already become a bit tiresome to the band.
"They just try to pigeonhole it too much," Hammond said of the conclusions he thinks too many have drawn. "Like 1978, '79 [punk] is what we sound like."
"The first Television album I heard was [1978's] Adventure, and so I really didn't like them so much," Casablancas said. "In terms of songwriting, they probably have less of an influence on us than most other bands. That's why we laugh when people ask us [about them].
"I totally understand why people compare us, though. They're a good band, and I think [1977's] Marquee Moon is good. But I don't mind because in the end all those kinds of things don't matter so much."
"It fucking pisses me off," Hammond said.