The Rebirth of Rock n Roll

I like many bands which come in many forms and many genres. But when it comes to basic rock, it's been a long time since anyone blew me away with their wit and talent and overall aura. Now don't get me wrong, I have many favourites when it comes to music. There is Travis, wonderful and Scottish and just cute, but way too mellow when it comes to this category. The Hives are crazy and awesome to watch, but I wouldn't call them rock either, more pop/grunge/punk or something... and Conor Oberst and his little project called Bright Eyes, well, doesn't get more honest than that. But rock he is not. More of a "the way emo should have turned out but no one was as good as him" kind of situation. Coldplay, again too mellow. Fantastic, but on the good side of pop, not really rock. Death Cab... well they aren't really rock either, they're kinda in with Coldplay. Radiohead is trippy and experimental, but not just simple rock 'n roll. 

Enter The Strokes. True rock sound. Simple sounding melodies that have extremely complicated guitar parts (Reptilia anyone?!). Intriguing lyrics that are not necessarily clear, but not entirely uninterpretable. And an "I don't care what you think" fashion sense. Plus, they have good sense when it comes to finding people to deal with their music videos. Just take a gander at Heart in a Cage or You Only Live Once, or again, Reptilia. Or hey, The End Has No End for that matter. And who could deny the 80s neon beauty of 12:51. Ok I could go on and on. 

Then you have to consider the personalities. The drummer, Fabrizio Moretti (the name is enough) who dated Drew Barrymore or the singer, Julian Casablancas, former wacked out pothead who married a girl named Juliet and quit weed for good. Seriously. And what could be less intriguing than their affinity for white shoes? All of them! And the fact that they all grew up as spoiled rich kids in New York City. So they decided to become musicians and bless us with this beautiful... well, rock! Yes, they bring much needed hope to a genre I thought was lost forever.