The title of the album and the song sounds like a question: “Is This It.” But there’s no question mark to be found. The Strokes claimed they didn’t like the look of it in the marketing, but it also could have been a calculated move to let people know that this music of theirs was indeed the real deal.
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Released in 2001, Is This It gave rock and roll music fans longing for a shot of authentic energy and attitude just what they needed. Here is how the album, and the song that kicked it off, came together.
The “It” Factor
The hype surrounding The Strokes’ debut album was so deafening it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if the actual product had been a letdown. After all, most of that buildup emanated from an EP that was all of three songs long. But that was enough to thrill the United Kingdom, which is where those songs were first distributed.
Before they reached that point, The Strokes had scraped their way through the New York City music scene for a few years. From their earliest point, they seemed disinterested in keeping current with musical trends of the day. Instead, they built up their sound from a variety of influences, most notably The Velvet Underground and other acts that had been inspired by that seminal band.
Their three-song EP was recorded on the cheap (and sounded like it), but the raw, fresh energy caught the attention of the Rough Trade label in the UK. The label distributed the EP The Modern Age and it caught fire overseas. A bidding war ensued among record labels wanting to put out The Strokes’ first album.
RCA Records won out, and the band hit the studio in the spring of 2001. The initial producer, Gil Norton, turned in a product that was too polished for the band’s liking. Gordon Raphael, who had produced the EP, came aboard instead, and he helped the band develop their lo-fi yet vibrant sound. That sound was exemplified by Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas recording his vocals through an amp that made him sound somehow both hazy and blaring.
While most of Is This It blisters by at a hot pace, the band turned in a surprise by choosing a slower track for the title track and opening song. It’s just enough of a curveball to work, as it gives Casablancas enough space to lay down the themes of decadence and disaffection that permeate the record.
Revisiting the Lyrics to “Is This It”
On “Is This It,” Casablancas—who wrote all the songs on the album—delivers a bleary-eyed, conversational treatise on feeling let down by it all. Was it a subtle way of nodding to the press surrounding the band? That might be a leap. But it certainly captures the frustration and disconnect of youth, the feeling that nothing, whether it’s romance, family, or simply life itself, lives up to its promise.
He begins by reaching out: Can’t you see I’m trying? That suggests the answer is probably no, that his actions aren’t giving his companion any confidence. I just lied to / Get to your apartment, he admits, his deceit laid bare. The defining trait that comes through in the first verse is lethargy: I can’t think ’cause / I’m just way too tired.
In the second verse, he seems to castigate the girl’s upbringing: Said they’d give you everything you ever wanted / When they lied, I knew it was just stable children. He then seems to move on to a conflict with one of the girl’s other acquaintances. But he suggests that maybe it’s not such a bad thing to mix it up a little, instead of settling for a dull, placid existence: We all disagree / I think we should all disagree, yeah.
The chorus finds Casablancas simply repeating, over and over again, Is this it? It’s a question similar to the one asked in the 1969 Peggy Lee hit “Is that All There Is?” a song that has become a sort of cabaret standard. By resetting that query in the turbulent times at the turn of the millennium, The Strokes made it relevant all over again.
The album Is This It turned The Strokes into instant superstars. It also set a towering standard that was tough for not just other bands to meet, but also for The Strokes themselves to top on their future releases. As for the song “Is This It,” it shows the perils of believing the hype, even as it comes from a band who deserved it.
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