Trollheart

Title: First Impressions of Earth
Artiste: The Strokes
Genre:
Familiarity: Zero. Yes, zero. Wanna fight about it?
Recommended by: The Identity Matrix

Expectations: Everyone knows The Strokes, right? Wrong. I know OF them, but have never heard a single song. So sue me. Mind you, this is the first rec from The Identity Matrix, and he (it?) was really gushing over Jeff Wayne, so I had better be nice. Or not. Lets hit play. Oh, interesting to see seventies star Albert Hammond's son is in the band.

1. You only live once: Kind of sounds a little like The Cars to me, good beat to the song. Is this where YOLO comes from? Like the guitar work, very sharp but very melodic. Vocal is definitely very new wave. Catchy song.
2. Juicebox: Love the Peter Gunnesque bassline that opens this. Very uptempo and a little frenetic. Different vocal entirely. Same guy? It would seem so. Good range then. Some of Hammond's guitar work here is really frantic, almost verging on metal at times, and the vocal skates the edge of punk without actually falling in.
3. Heart in a cage: Was expecting a ballad, got a rip-roaring rocker that I absolutely love. Such energy and fun. First Blue, may not be the last.
4. Razorblade: This is really whimsical. The high fluting guitar really makes it. Cool. Great hook, though it sounds suspiciously familiar... ah yes. “Oh Mandy! You came and you gave without taking...” Cheeky, guys! Cheeky!
5. On the other side: Another great bassline and a song that trundles along really well, sort of like a happy march or something. Really like this one. Are these two songs about suicide? If so, they're the happiest songs about that subject I've ever heard.
6. Vision of division: Didn't think I'd like this one but as it went along I really got into the angry and frustrated vibe of it.
7. Ask me anything: There's an odd kind of minimal new-wave thing about this; sounds like violin and I'm told that's mellotron though it doesn't sound like it. Pretty depressing song, first that's come across to me that way.
8. Electricityscape: This is much better. Boppy, uptempo, though again I feel the main melody is familiar. Can't place it this time however. Nice midsection.
9. Killing lies: This is pleasant, but nothing special, and I feel to a degree that the album is tapering off slightly now as it heads towards the end.
10. Fear of sleep: And another very familiar melody. Very powerful song, you can really hear his passion in the vocal and the guitars just batter.
11. 15 minutes: Great blues ballad. Maybe we're back on track? Oh, okay: not a ballad. Just kicked into third gear. Nice.
12. Ize of the world: This really has a tremendous amount of energy in it, some excellent fretwork from Hammond, and I think my previous comment about the quality dipping can be seen now to have been in error. Totally abrupt ending is odd, literally stops mid-word?
13. Evening sun: Real sense of The Divine Comedy in this one. Very breezy.
14. Red light: And another bouncy uptempo one to end.

End result: A lot better than I had expected. Some very good songs, even if they do seem to occasionally filch melodies and ideas from other songs.

So, Love or Hate? This would have to be a Love. Three in a row!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018