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.
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