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Can Clarence Carter Get Some Love or What?
This is a love attack I know went out but its back...
4-25
- It's not like I don't want to make friends and influence people here, but I feel like I need to be the one to come out and say that The Strokes.. kinda suck, don't they?
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- This isn't to say that they aren't a good band, but rather to point out that all I know of them is one song..
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- And that's the problem.
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- Because really, The Strokes have committed the biggest possible sin a new band could make - Having one hit with a retro sound (a sound that may or may not reflect what the band actually sounds like).
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- It seems that the ever-so-finicky music listeners out there have accepted and fallen in love with "Last Night" (once again I apparently have no taste in music, as I think the song sucks chong) -- And while the tune does feel poppy and is probably fun to dance to, it's also vaguely reminiscent of many other songs and styles that were once popular ("Love Cats" by the Cure, Tom Petty's "American Girl," anything by the Pogues). In other words, it's popular because it's "kinda like music we used to like a lot."
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- And herein lies the problem. If the rest of the album does not have the same affect as this one song, they're sunk. Sure they'll get a nod on the soundtrack for the next Jason Biggs movie and they'll do tours and stuff, but I fear it won't be long before one of their tunes finds it's way into a Gatorade commercial, or worse.
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- In short - If your life's dream is to be a rock star,
the absolute last thing you want to see
is Mia Hamm playing soccer to your song.
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- Hey Strokes.. I got two words for you:
SmashMouth.
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- You know that feeling, that sinking pit in your stomach feeling you get anytime you see a commercial that features the sounds of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life?"
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- Am I the only one who thinks that you could
drop the sounds of "Last Night" into the background of
any of those ads without anyone blinking an eye?
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- Someone will tell me I'm full of crap (which is entirely possible, I suppose). Someone will tell me the Strokes are real.
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- Maybe they are.
Hopefully they are.
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- But if the Strokes are to be more than just a "one hit wonder" - they need to show it. And they need to show it now.
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- If the radio stations and the video channels decide to lock on to one song and make it your legacy - then you the band, the band's management, the band's fans HAVE to find a way to get more music out there, HAVE to find a way to broaden the general publics perception of what the band is about.
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- If it's about music - then get us some more music, and make sure you put your hearts into it.
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But if it's about getting the chance to be the soundtrack artist for the next slew of Target ads, get out of the way and let someone else have a crack at it.
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First appeared as a post in the Forums of Popcult Magazine (this version has been edited a bit). I'm not going to make a habit of reposting rants from
discussion boards - but I got pretty lathered up about this topic, and the results seemed like something worth saving. -- For the record, I still think The Strokes suck.
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