Let The Strokes touch you.
Let them reach out with their pulsing rhythms, penetrating riffs, and oh-so-’70s shag and awaken your senses to rock music.
This is a rock ‘n’ roll band. This is a genre spitting in the face of cutesy pop and forgettable new wave. The Strokes are aggressive, arousing and good.
Fabrizion Moretti on drums, Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. on guitar, bassist Nikolai Fraiture and vocalist Julian Casablancas are five friends from New York who rented rehearsal space in Manhattan for $300 a month trying to make something of their band.
Did they make something after three years of after school jams, nightlong sessions and low-profile gigs in the New York music scene? See for yourself when The Strokes hit RIMAC Arena on April 30, backed by their debut album “”Is This It,”” which recently went gold in the United States.
The sound runs a spectrum of decades and music. It is unmistakably rooted in the Velvet Underground of the 1970s, but The Strokes command their music, creating a newer, faster time in rock ‘n’ roll.
Casablancas’ few-toned vocal delivery broken by sporadic rock scream, Moretti’s hypnotic drumbeats, the quick guitar solos of Valensi and Hammond, and Fraiture diving the bass culminate in a well-crafted song.
The Strokes have disclosed their talent to the world, and people are taking notice. Fresh off the first two-month leg of their European tour, the band is greeted by the United States with several accolades: “”Is This It”” was named best album of 2001 by “”New York Magazine,”” “”Entertainment Weekly,”” “”CMJ,”” “”Time Magazine,”” and “”Rolling Stone”” ranked it eighth of the top 10 albums of the year.
Co-headlining for The Strokes is the dynamic duo Tenacious D, which has proclaimed itself the “”greatest band in history.””
Their rise in fame and status occurred simultaneously with an increase in their musical repertoire. Their premature first gig in 1994 at Los Angeles’s Al’s Bar showcased their only song: “”Tribute.””
Since then, Jack Black and Kyle Grass have refined their hard-hitting acoustic chords and full-bodied vocals. First touring the comedy club circuit in Los Angles, they gained notoriety as a legitimately talented rock band.
Their lyrics are biting, funny and tell a grand story about whatever the tenacious boys care to sing about. The special blend of music has been dubbed “”the alternative comedy movement.””
Tenacious D exploded onto the screen, radio and television all at once, assaulting the masses with their energetic songs.
The two were featured in a devilish love scene in “”Southpark: The Movie,”” had a cameo in “”High Fidelity,”” were played on radio stations across the country when the album hit stores and have graced the likes of late night shows such as Craig Kilbourne.
Look to the hiatus calendar on page 11 for details on the show.
