The Strokes – Room on Fire Review

Following up Is This It proved tricky for The Strokes. Not because they weren’t up to the task but because, with hindsight, their debut still defines them. When was the last time Julian Casablancas took Last Nite out of setlist contention? We should be relieved to hear it still, it’s just more a reflection of confidence in the material that followed. Case in point, Room on Fire. A second album comes as an artist finds themselves more established and a little more comfortable in the studio than they were the first time around. Casablancas and company know which knobs and levers do what to their music, and where the catering and couches are located. It should mean, on paper, that Room on Fire is a little more streamlined for the band, meaning better music can be made. Hiring and firing Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, and subsequently scrapping those “soulless” sessions, is not the strongest start.  

A follow-up album of this magnitude leads nowhere but disdain from a public who want perfection. Thankfully for Casablancas and the band, Room on Fire is a quality piece of work. A harsh and hearty vocal range from Casablancas is what keeps it all together. He doesn’t so much identify with the alternative rock and indie scene of the times so much as he embodies it. Whenever you need an example of what this period sounded like, look no further than What Ever Happened?, a classy showcase of the early 2000s in rock. Follow that strong piece of work up, the instrumental thrills spilling into Reptilia, and you have an outstanding start to an era that could’ve caved for The Strokes. They’re fresh off touring their debut album, working out how to manage audience expectation, and finding themselves challenging their sound already. Crucially though, the band aren’t bogged down in the fine-tuning and experimental mess they’ve found themselves in with Reality Awaits.  

What the band gets right on Room on Fire is simplicity. A fresh guitar solo or a solid, rugged vocal here and there is all The Strokes needed to provide these lyrically inspired songs. Nothing but quality the whole way through on an album that holds up better than Is This It. Consistency is key, and The Strokes has enough variety across Room on Fire, but enough of an experimental flourish to their instrumental work. It’s that timeless quality which transcends explanation. Automatic Stop and 12:51 have it, that feeling of utter quality. There’s an instrumentally familiar quality from song to song, but it’s just the electric guitar. That’s the one constant here, the instrument that The Strokes use as a balance for the rest of their instrumental choices. Casablancas and the band throw everything they have at this one, be it the steady percussion or pooling their resources on songs of hope in the face of utter despair. Contrast is everything for Room on Fire.  

The Strokes find themselves contemplating their touring days, too. Under Control is an outstanding comment on the exhaustion of touring and the effect it has on their personal lives. The band sounds guilt-stricken by their desire to tour and create, sacrificing the potential foundation-making moments that come with loved ones in the process. Room on Fire is an album about presence and being there, which is not what an up-and-coming band can afford to do. An antidote to the touring and recording cycle this is not, but it’s a masterful understanding of what being on the road and in that cycle of success can do to an artist. Room on Fire is an album that, despite standing up well, could’ve been ironed out ever so slightly more. That’s the difference between great work and perfect work, and it’s the closest The Strokes ever got to the latter.