Video Of The Week: The Strokes

I couldn't think of a better way to sum the week up than saying it's Hard To Explain, as The Strokes so aptly put it in on their seminal 2001 album Is This It? (also their first ever single).

NME, Rolling Stone and Spin were among the band-wagoners who named this either in their top 10s of the year of top 40 of the decade, leading average music listeners to think the band never put out anything else worthy of attention later when, in fact, Juicebox stands as their best track - and one that can favourably be compared to almost any other song put out this millennia.

Still, the video, directed by Roman Coppola, Johannes Gamble and singer Julian Casablancas using mostly found footage was a nice calling card that kept just enough mystery to grab the attention and ask for more, which I guess to some extent, the early-2000s rock scene really did.

I'm of the school of thought that claims The Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Jack White saved us from even more Nickleback being thrown at us, and possibly longer reigns for bands like Limp Bizkit. We dodged a bullet, folks, and it started with this:

Video Of The Week: Daft Punk Featuring Julian Casablancas

No, it's not one of the year's best albums; it's a collection of rehashed 1980s keyboard riffs you can't put your finger on but know you've vomited to hundreds of times, like a Giorgio Moroder-penned soundtrack to your worst hangover.

But a Julian Casablancas vocal is better than one by Pharrell, and though it doesn't sound like a disco hit as much as Get Lucky or Lose Yourself To Dance, Instant Crush is a much better track as a whole, more subtle (as subtle as Daft Punk can be), yet still miles away from the ''smart dance music'' it claims to be. Which is also a metaphor for The Strokes' career, fittingly - the harder they try, the less they're appreciated by most (though I like all their records).

The video shows off a toy soldier molded after Casablancas and its pursuit of true love, interspersed with footage of the actual Srokes singer dancing on a platform and wearing an outfit that would get him kicked out of The Outsiders - leather jacket, tight pants, bandana at the thigh, and the cheesiest sports shoes this side of an awful 1983 breakdancing video.

When I think about the 1980s - particularly the middle part, but even as a whole, and even up to 1990 itself - or when I hear certain songs that were hits in my childhood, I usually start feeling sick and literally want to puke my brains out. Even songs I kind of like (and at times cover myself), such as Edie Brickell's What I Am, but just about any New Kids On The Block, Milli Vanilli or Bobby Brown song will do. This song here (and this group) also have that effect on me, which must mean it's the real deal.

Video Of The Week: The Strokes

It's time for The Strokes, again, because it's been so long. Part of that is because their last record dates from over a year ago, but songs such as this one still find their way into my Ipod. As a matter of fact, as a single artist entry, only Queens Of The Stone Age is on there more often, although Jack White as an individual, with all his projects, takes up the most actual room.

In any event, this is old-time quality rock'n'roll, in a video directed by Samuel Bayer. I even purchased the single to this song, because it included a not-so-good cover version of Marvin Gaye's Mercy, Mercy Me, featuring QOTSA's Josh Homme and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

Video Of The Week: The Strokes

Right off the bat, I must say I find this to be sub-par material from a band whose complete output I really like. Then again, the band seems to relate to its ''real fans'', those who only find their first record, Is This It, any good. And those ''fans'' seem to really dig the new stuff, as attested by the quantity of comments such as ''they're back!'' and ''finally decent stuff again!'' all over YouTube.

But The Strokes are, indeed, back. And sub-par Strokes is still better than whatever's playing on the radio or on the music video channels. So while it's no First Impressions Of Earth, go out and buy Angles. Maybe some songs are even better than the first single, this one, Under Cover Of Darkness.

Video Of The (Last) Week: Julian Casablancas

Singer and primary songwriter of New York ''2000s garage-rock pioneers'' The Strokes, Julian Casablancas released a solo record in the first week of November, 2009; while many were expecting a full-on rock record, those who'd heard a few Strokes' demos from singles or bootlegs knew there would be a chance that keyboards would be an integral part of the record, seeing as how Casablancas, the son NYC Elite Management agency boss John Casablancas, has a tendency to write all of his band's complex harmonies on keys before transposing the arrangements to guitar with the rest of the band.

However, I'm sure no one expected a full-on 80s-style record. It's usually not my type of sound, but this one, I feel, is actually listenable. The video reflects how the record sounds, what with the outdated fonts, Prince-like ''girl'' band, cheap colouring effects and whatnot...

I actually saw this video for the first time on Thursday and immediately thought ''this is it, the video for this week!'' but was too busy to take the time to sit in front of a computer and get it done - so many things to do this weekend, including my mom's birthday.

So here it is.




Fun trivia: Julian is actually three weeks older than I am (he was born on August 23rd, 1978). So, in three weeks' time, he's managed to release a solo record and 3 band records more than me. Talk about being productive in a short time span!