"Best friends fight, but they never enjoy life as good as when they abuse it"
Julian Casablancas, underrated lyricist.
The Strokes began as, among other things, a nostalgia band. Their sound was born out of '80s music with some '90s Nirvana thrown in for good measure. The low-fi production played up this idea that their music was not of the current epoch. Their image was of rockers out of the '70s/'80s New York scene. Their debut album, futuristic in so many ways but also imbued with this nostalgia, was a dazzling affair.
But here is the problem with bands that tinker with retro and nostalgia: They eventually have to record a second album. And we quickly see the common truth hold that, despite all their throwback appeal, they are still subject to the standard of all sophomore efforts - they must show evolution. How do evolve when you must also stay loyal to your association with the past?
The Strokes struggled awkwardly with this question for two further albums after their debut. While they fumbled around, much of their audience moved on to other things.
Only after most people were no longer paying attention did they finally arrive at the answer, demonstrated on their 2011 album Angles.
The first successful change was to actually improve their production values. The drums are still pretty primitive '70s sounding with that stadium echo, but there is definitely more sheen across the board than the abysmal sound they employed for albums 2 and 3. Those albums are hard to listen to based on sound quality alone, almost everything extremely tinny in a wasted effort to avoid any prevention to production, and the instruments voiced in a way as to almost rub the ghastliness our faces.
The second change was to actually de-emphasize the attempts of Julian Casablancas to force the Strokes to progress into a heavy band. Albums 2 and 3 have much aggression but the passion and real craft for heavy music is missing (apart from a few absolute gems). Instead, look what is done here on "Gratisfaction": An old school rock shuffle beat, drums driving on the toms, vocals half Strokes and half something out of Steely Dan or Doobie Brothers. Not a heavy song, no ill-fitting angst, just fun, challenging rock. And it turns out there are plenty of retro sounds to mine if you are also progressing in your production values to re-frame those sounds with new context.
But here is something that is all Strokes: The concept is simple, but the songwriting is brilliant. The chord progressions in the verses and choruses are unique, with that endearing, angular quality that made their fist album sound so advanced. Chords change seemingly at will rather than after four beats, and there are often not an even number of chords in a progression, resulting off-kilter cadences like the five-chord choruses in this song.
I love this song. It's a shame it's hidden on an album almost nobody has heard.