Music Listening Session #7 – The Strokes’ Is This It (2001)

Few albums in rock history can match the instant, game-changing impact of Is This It in 2001. Seemingly overnight, rock ’n’ roll turned grittier, haircuts grew shaggier, and the secondhand-blazer section at your local thrift store got a lot more crowded. It’s hard to separate The Strokes from the wave of like-minded turn-of-the-millennium bands at home in New York City (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, TV on the Radio) or further afield (The Hives, The White Stripes, The Libertines), but Is This It bore a singular mix of grime and glamour that felt like a sea change. Most importantly, carefree kiss-offs like “Someday” and “Last Nite” refashioned the left-field sounds of previous generations — the streetwise swagger of The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop, the wounded romanticism of The Smiths and early Cure — into immediate, dance-floor-ready pop music that shaped the sound and aesthetic of a new era.

(Article: 'Is This It' At 20: How The Strokes Redefined Rock)

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New-ish series! At each session, we'll get together to listen to and discuss some of the greatest and most important albums of all time across different genres and eras. After each track we'll pause for a short discussion where we can share our thoughts and reflections or what the music has meant to us personally.

I'll have lyrics up via Zoom's screen share.

For our 7th session let's listen to The Strokes’ Is This It — has it really been 25 years since this album came out??

Albums we've previously discussed:

1. Nirvana's Nevermind (1991)
2. Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska (1982)
3. Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush (1970)
4. Radiohead’s OK Computer (1997)
5. Joni Mitchell’s Blue (1971)
6. The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (1966)

Some fun podcasts on the philosophy of music:

• Music Has In It Neither Grief nor Joy | This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast
• AI Music is Here | Today, Explained
• The Healing Power of Music with Dr Daniel Levitin | Feel Better, Live More with Rangan Chatterjee

Potential future listening sessions:

• The Velvet Underground
• Marvin Gaye
• Patti Smith
• Carole King
• Stevie Wonder
• Bob Dylan
• Pavement
• Wilco
• The Beatles
• David Bowie
• Sonic Youth
• Kraftwerk
• Massive Attack
• Aretha Franklin
• De La Soul
• Prince
• Lauryn Hill
• Aphex Twin
• The Pixies
• Sex Pistols
• The Clash
• The Smiths
• Joy Division
• Primal Scream
• DJ Shadow
• Public Enemy
• Talking Heads
• Fleetwood Mac
• Arcade Fire
• Kendrick Lamar
• Dr. Dre
• Sly and the Family Stone
• The Streets
• Built To Spill
• R.E.M.
• Bjork
• Nine Inch Nails
• Sufjan Stevens
• Dusty Springfield
• Otis Redding
• ETC...