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My iPod #470: The Strokes – Gratisfaction

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“Gratisfaction” is an album track from The Strokes’ 2011 album Angles, one immediately seen as their comeback album after a five year hiatus. Some loved it; some weren’t so keen on it. I was (and still am) inclined towards the latter. Didn’t flow with me so well. But it was the first album in which Julian Casablancas allowed the other members in the band to have more freedom when it came to the songwriting. “Gratisfaction” was co-written by him, guitarist Nick Valensi, and drummer Fab Moretti and the result is a swinging three minute head-bopper that has a bit of a Thin Lizzy classic rock vibe to it.

My favourite on the album, to be sure. Julian kind of has a skipping/mumbling vocal delivery going that jumps along to Fab’s beat and Albert and Nick’s signature catchy guitar lines in the verses before breaking into loud chords amongst Julian’s sustained notes to signify a dramatic change in mood for the chorus. It switches back and forth between that dynamic before coming to a close, during which someone can be heard walking out of the studio and closing a door.

Very enjoyable. Think it had the potential to be a single. But what can you do.

My iPod #325: The Strokes – The End Has No End

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“The End Has No End” is a track by The Strokes that can be found on the band’s album “Room on Fire“, their second album released in 2003.

Although it was released as the final single from that album and The Strokes had been around for about two/three years by that time, this was actually the first Strokes song I ever heard. I distinctly remember watching its video on MTV2, right around the time that it had probably been released or something.

The song’s music video features appearances from hot ladies Mila Kunis and Eva Mendes, though surprisingly they didn’t do anything much for me as much as Julian Casablancas’ voice did. That sounds very wrong, I know. But his general lower register singing voice as well as the repetitive melody of the chorus got stuck in my head for a while. That was until I forgot it some time later. It was until I was lying in my bed looking outside one of the windows of my house when “The Ennnnd Has Noooooooo Ennnnnnd” silently started playing in my head, and I just carried on singing it over and over again.

I like this track a lot. It’s probably one of my favourite Strokes songs just because it was the first one I heard by them. Was very lucky to be watching MTV2 all those years ago.

My iPod #156: The Strokes – Call It Fate, Call It Karma

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It’s quite late, but what the hell.

“Comedown Machine” was The Strokes ‘comeback’ album released earlier this year in March. “One Way Trigger” was the first song to be released to the world to be given the reception of “Why the fuck is Julian singing so high?” and “Am I listening to “Take on Me” by A-ha, what’s going on?” Then most people were very excited when “All the Time” was revealed as the first official single. A lot of talk on how the band had ‘returned to form’ erupted; a lot of people dismissed it as boring.

Then the album was actually released and received very mixed reviews. Though it was unfairly judged in comparison to “Is This It” and on how the band just didn’t sound the same anymore. In an earlier post I merely dismissed it as an “Angles Part II”, but I haven’t even listened to that album in full anyway, so I didn’t know what I was talking about.

That was when I had just heard the album when it was available on Pitchfork. After multiple listens I finally came to the conclusion that it is not as bad/disappointing as reviews made it out to be. Sure it’s different, this song clearly shows one of the reasons why, but I see that it is wrong to assume that a band’s sound will always stay the same. You’ve got to change things up a bit. Look at Arctic Monkeys. Look at Alex Turner! That’s just the way it is; things will never be the same.

“Call It Fate…” is the last song on the album and is one that I did not like for quite some time. It’s like the soundtrack to a silent 50s film. It did take a while for me to understand whether Julian was singing, or what instruments were being played. The falsetto was a bit too much too.

It’s one of my favourites from it though. It’s so mellow and quiet. Close your eyes as you sail away on a tropical breeze during the chorus and then be scared as your boat drifts the wrong way and you end up surrounded by a menacing jungle when the coda begins and Julian starts wailing “I neeeeeded someoonnnnnnne….” It’s very creepy, and unnerving. It ends the album on quite a menacing note.

Jamie.