“It’s shit”: The album The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas admitted was rushed
The early 2000s indie music revival is inseparable from the influence of The Strokes. When their debut album, Is This It, hit the scene, it offered a fresh and invigorating sound for alternative music fans who had long cherished bands like The Smiths. Suddenly, the generation that yearned for something new had their prayers answered with fresh, upbeat rock and melodic charm.
Following such a robust debut might seem like a monumental task for some, if not possible, but the band were eager to continue their trajectory as new-wave alternative rock leaders, channelling such a desire into what would eventually become the more accomplished and refined Room On Fire. Comprising career-defining hits like ‘Reptilia’, ’12:51′, and ‘Under Control’, it’s easy to see why this album became a handful of fan’s most cherished.
An undeniably notable moment in the band’s wider evolution, Room On Fire arguably shares as much importance as Is This It, particularly when looking at how they continued to adapt older, more traditional rock-leaning tropes and reframed it for modern audiences who just wanted fun, accessible rock that made them feel like their favourite genre still had a place in the pop-dominated industry.
The process of creating the album was much different, however. While many of The Strokes’ songs require considerable patience, especially when picking apart Julian Casablancas’ gorgeous vocal and how it sits comfortably among the accompaniment of various, often overbearing musical arrangements, Room On Fire came together in a moment of haste, for better or worse.
With deadlines to meet, the band worked tirelessly for two days, hoping to arrive at a finished product that didn’t sound too much like it had just been thrown together, which it had. “Room On Fire was a mad dash all the way,” Casablancas once told Rolling Stone. “It was such a shitty situation to be in. We were up 48 hours straight, working all through the night to get it to the mastering studio on time, saying stuff like, “It’s shit and it doesn’t sound right – but hey, it’s good enough.”
Despite the obvious frustrations during its creation, the album ended up becoming one of Casablancas’ favourites, possibly even surpassing Is This It as his top choice. “I remember when we started ‘Reptilia’ and ‘The End Has No End,’ I was like, ‘This is the new vibe,'” the musician explained. “I think we always felt like we were in jeopardy. When we did Room on Fire, things were established, but things were internally, at least from my perspective, not healthy.”
Is This It will always be one of the band’s most quintessential works, but there is greatness to be found elsewhere, not just within everything leading up to The New Abnormal, but in the excellence that permeates the entirety of Room On Fire. The album might have felt rushed, but you wouldn’t know it from listening and letting the heart-pumping riffs take hold.
