Good try, we don't like it

The Strokes - 'I Can't Win' (Room on Fire 2003)

The Strokes’ second album, Room On Fire, is a perfect second album. That’s not to say it is a work like The Bends, Nevermind or The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, where the debut album’s promises are delivered and expanded upon. It is a perfect follow-up in that it is a record that people have strong opinions on and are prepared to write about, at length, on the internet. - Which, in the 21st century, is almost better than being a record everyone likes.

Is This It was heralded as a landmark album almost as soon as it hit the record store shelves in 2001; when you look back at it with twenty years’ water under the bridge, you can see what an impact it had on the rest of the decade and I covered that last year

There was a lot of anticipation and hype around the band’s next moves - to the extent that NME would publish stories not just on their fledgling website but on the front of the magazine, offering updates of new songs being recorded every time the band were anywhere near a studio. The band appeared on the magazine’s front cover four times in 2002 and a further four times in 2003, powered by appearances at Reading/Leeds and receiving NME awards.

By this time what is now seen as the band’s legacy was starting to flourish, but not in full. Yes, The Libertines were making big waves in the UK, The Hives had received some recognition after the fact but the likes of The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, and The Arctic Monkeys were waiting in the wings.

All this meant there was a palpable sense of excitement surrounding The Strokes and their music as 2002 turned into 2003. The band's image and charisma further amplified the hype, as they were seen as being at the forefront of a new wave of rock music; they looked good, sold magazines and got eyeballs on content. This naturally led to a groundswell of anticipation - I think it was probably the most anticipated follow-up since Radiohead’s Kid A three years before.

The difference between the two is a stark contrast between what people want and get. - Radiohead made a bold, left turn, and rather than going all out U2 or R.E.M. for their follow-up to OK Computer, they leant into Miles Davis, Neu, Aphex Twin and Autechre. This was thrilling for some and a disappointment for others.

The Radiohead comparison is apt because The Strokes chose Nigel Godrich, known for his work with the Oxford band, as their producer. However, they soon decided to part ways with him, explaining that the collaboration felt "soulless". Reflecting on this unsuccessful partnership, Godrich said,

The challenge with that project was the clash between Julian Casablancas and me, both of us being control enthusiasts. Julian had his way of doing things, and I had mine, which was the very reason for my presence. So, I wondered why I was there if we were not prepared to approach the work as I envisioned. Despite a great personal rapport, the professional arrangement simply didn't pan out. I wanted them to evolve, and they didn't.

Eventually, the Strokes scrapped those sessions and reconnected with their initial producer, Gordon Raphael, who had worked on Is This It.

So Room On Fire didn't dramatically change or expand upon The Strokes' sound, and many found it quite similar to the band's debut album. This was thrilling for some and a disappointment for others. They were sticking to a tried and tested setup, which led to mixed reviews, with some applauding the consistency and viewing it as a successful refinement of the band's signature sound. Others desired more growth and evolution. The high expectations and resulting debates further fueled the media's fascination with The Strokes.

‘I Can't Win’, as the closing track of Room on Fire, is a commentary on the band's experience with their newfound fame and the pressures and expectations that came with it.

The song's lyrics illustrate a sense of overwhelming expectation and unfulfillment, which mirrors the band's reality at the time. Despite the Strokes' significant commercial success and critical acclaim, they found themselves in a paradoxical position of feeling both idolised and isolated under intense scrutiny.

The first verse, which describes the object of the narrator’s desire as both surrounded by others and simultaneously alone, can be interpreted as a metaphor for the band's relationship with their fans and the media. The band was constantly under the public eye, yet the high expectations and idolisation made it seem like their authentic selves could never indeed be reached or understood.

Musically, the song is, for better or worse, sonically like their previous work. Guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. plays a chugging guitar line, and Nick Valensi’s chiming riff weaves around to kick things off. Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti¹ provide the solid and unflashy underpinning of the song and lead singer Julian Casablancas oscillates between croon and howl in the same way Hammond Jr. and Valensi size each other up across a couple of minutes.

One of the key characteristics of The Strokes' guitar sound is the way Valensi and Hammond Jr.'s parts interlock and interact. This could be compared to the 'guitar weaving' style of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones, with the two guitar parts creating a rich, layered texture rather than one taking a dominant role. The other is Casablancas' vocal delivery, swinging between a lethargic drawl and an energetic snarl, reflecting the band's mixture of apathy and rebellion.

Despite frequent calls from mainly the British music press to save rock ‘n’ roll, the band has often refuted the rock/indie saviour label as it would be such a giant albatross even to consider playing that role. The band insisted that their goal was never to achieve such grandiose status but to create music they loved.

There is a real Sisyphean quality to lines like;

One, two tries won't do it
You do it all your life and you never get through it

which is heightened by this sentiment running through the whole album in the band's lyrics, a recurring theme of striving for success only to be met with disappointment. The album opens with ‘Whatever Happened’ and a call that Casablancas wants to be forgotten, he doesn’t want to save rock or whatever that is meant to mean - but by the end of the record, he has seemingly come full circle and decided that he’ll take it - a call back to both the detached attitude of the debut’s title - Is This It and the final track, “Take It Or Leave It”. The New York quintet may not want to save rock, but they keep pushing one up a hill daily.

I’m going to give the last word to Pitchfork; they gave the album an 8.0 in 2003 and said;

Room on Fire is eleven songs sharing DNA with its predecessor, a follow-up of more sleepy, contagious mono-pop that doesn't sound diligently recorded so much as yawned out.

Some 18 years later, they revised it to a 9.2, 0.1 more than Is This It and said that The Strokes successfully evolved their sound while retaining the raw essence that marked their debut. Room on Fire was a significant stride forward, demonstrating their resilience despite the anticipated backlash after their meteoric rise to fame.

Be prepared for a 6.8 review in 2039.

The Run Out Grooves Infinite Loops

Maybe one album was as anticipated as Room On Fire in 2003, it was this one.

1. Has any band had such cool names for every member?