I was kind of surprised to read that the Strokes have a new album out. In my nemory they are so lodged in a particular moment 15 years ago I can't really accept them outside of thar narrow frame. I heard New York City Cops on XFM, it was their best song, at a time when XFM still felt a bit new and different. It was that era when they hoped that one could have a radio station as bizarre and eclectic as a John Peel Show and make money. Wrong! Enter Capital Radio Roundheads to rotate the hits, push up the phone in compos and ditch Mark Lamarr talking about 40 year old ska records.
I was pretty excited by that first hearing, Britpop was by then a million miles from Suedes swaggering underdog. An injection of something fresh from te States was more than welcome to my ears. I bought the album, went to see them live. It was there that I kind of realised that my ears had changed. Ten years before I would have hoovered up their noise. But by theclate 90's my palette had broadened, I was older. In large doses The Strokes rather than feeling refreshing and now, felt over familiar. At a time when listening to Reggae and Country was revealing a whole new world of ideas, The Strokes just felt like a patchwork of old ones. In many ways like Britpop had been.
But I also remembered seeing Bauhaus in 1982 and the revelation that gig ad been to me. A 30 year old that night would have droned on about them just copying Bowie, with a bit of Pistols thrown in. I kind of realised that maybe this band was not meant for me, but for a new generation. So that is where I left them. My ears still prick up when I hear NYCC but that is it.
I was pretty excited by that first hearing, Britpop was by then a million miles from Suedes swaggering underdog. An injection of something fresh from te States was more than welcome to my ears. I bought the album, went to see them live. It was there that I kind of realised that my ears had changed. Ten years before I would have hoovered up their noise. But by theclate 90's my palette had broadened, I was older. In large doses The Strokes rather than feeling refreshing and now, felt over familiar. At a time when listening to Reggae and Country was revealing a whole new world of ideas, The Strokes just felt like a patchwork of old ones. In many ways like Britpop had been.
But I also remembered seeing Bauhaus in 1982 and the revelation that gig ad been to me. A 30 year old that night would have droned on about them just copying Bowie, with a bit of Pistols thrown in. I kind of realised that maybe this band was not meant for me, but for a new generation. So that is where I left them. My ears still prick up when I hear NYCC but that is it.
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