The Latest Strokes record is.....zzzzzzzz

Thanks to Spotify I didn't waste my money on the latest Strokes record. I did have the vinyl on my Amazon wish list...even had it pre-ordered. But when I got Spotify I went and canceled all my pre-orders, figuring I would do something novel and this time wait to hear the album before I committed to buying it.

I reckon I was going to get the record because it's what music nerds like me should do, right. I've talked about this before with My Bloody Valentine. That record is at least interesting and has 1000 years worth of waiting behind it. The new Strokes record, Comedown Machine, has its moments but is a severe letdown.

I am not a big Strokes fan to start with. I bought Is This It? when it came out and thought it was good, a return to snotty late 70s NYC club rock. On reflection it's still pretty good. Room On Fire and First Impressions of Earth had their moments. I thought the first side of Angles was actually very good, before it flew off the rails halfway through

So Comedown Machine drops and the rock writers get a chance to rhapsodize. When I first saw the cover I thought it was some kind of place-holder. Nope, turns out that's it. The music? One good song, "All The Time". Some fine. Most lousy.

I read a Pitchfork review of the first Jet record. Jet are a mediocre band that came in the wake of The Strokes and are regularly crucified by the likes of Pitchfork writers. Amongst the litany of complaints is that they make a concerted effort to sound like other bands. And I guess they come across as douchebags. I guess when snotty New Yorkers do it it's OK, because everything I have read about The Strokes makes them seem like douchebags. Albert Hammond is quoted as saying how Jet makes him want to stop playing music. What an absolutely banal thing to say. It's nonsense...it's something a hipster says to sound cool.

The Strokes play their own game of Who Do We Sound Like Now? From Blondie on "Welcome to Japan" to Talking Heads on "Slow Animals" to The Killers on "Happy Ending" to A-Ha on "On Way Trigger." Really? A-Ha is what we are shooting for?

Listening it to a second time it's even worse. The first time, maybe because it was sort of in the background, it didn't quite register. Now as I pay attention it comes in full force. The problem is these guys are not songwriters. They are hipsters posing as a band. There isn't a single thing that is new or revolutionary or even interesting going on here. It's a waste of time. Enough. I just shut it off and turned on something that is worth my time.

PS...if you like it, that's cool. Just not my thing. I am glad you dig it!