It may be the band’s first impression of Earth, but this is not the album you want to head for a first impression of The Strokes. First Impressions of Earth had the difficult task of following up Room on Fire, an album arguably stronger than the delightful Is This It. The Julian Casablancas-led group has hardly found steady ground since the release of their first two albums, but at least tried to keep it together on their third release. Such a quick turnaround between albums one and two sets a precedent which cannot be maintained for much longer. The Strokes find out as much on First Impressions of Earth, a third album that marks such a step down in quality you’d be amazed to hear it’s the same band working away on it. It sparked a lengthy period of reflection from the group, who retreated from the studio for six years after the release of First Impressions of Earth. It’s not that bad, but perhaps some reflections after their impression are necessary.
Clearly, the lessons learnt from First Impressions of Earth were not permanent. This third album, while nowhere close to the dizzying heights of Is This It and Room on Fire, still has some strength at its core. A shame that YOLO became such a catch-all in the mid-2010s, because You Only Live Once has a sentimentality and stylishness not associated with the aphorism. Casablancas and the band bank on the indie-rock tone they had adapted at the start of the century, and they’re strong carriers of the sound here. Follow-up song Juicebox is a thrashy little thrill, a song which highlights how The Strokes had evolved well from their second album. But this all feels like cover ahead of what is, effectively, a shut up and play the hits moment from the band just two albums into their career. Both Heart in a Cage and Razorblade feel like play-ups of what had come before. Too soon to linger as a nostalgic act, too late to capture the spirit of the first two albums. Surplus to requirement is what First Impressions of Earth turns into.
Songs like On the Other Side have the spirit of The Strokes but fail to offer anything in the way of convincing. There’s moments within First Impressions of Earth that feel like they fit to one project or another, but aren’t strong enough to feature as the highlight of a new idea. Vision of Division has the same sentiment as On the Other Side but with a tougher guitar line. It’s not all that convincing though, dropping off too soon to make an impact. Songs like On the Other Side are filled with a self-flagellation expected of a band on the top of their game but the wandering tone Casablancas brings about with his lyrical choices offer very little. It all sounds great, but dig that little bit deeper and you can hear First Impressions of Earth has only one impression.
By the halfway mark, The Strokes had lost their weighty aims to a relatively lacklustre sound and writing style. Electricityscape and Killing Lies are solid but not all that remarkable. What had started as a chance to rival the preceding two albums becomes a sign of The Strokes running on empty so soon into their run. It happens to the best of them, but the band has hardly recovered from here. It’s to the point that First Impressions of Earth, despite being relatively worse than the first two albums overall, is still the strongest piece of work to follow Room on Fire. Repeating the title on Fear of Sleep is frankly weak work from the band, and the low point of First Impressions of Earth. It’s still a higher point than what was to follow, though it sounds like the band is obsessed with perfecting this tempo shift with instrumentals only. The wordplay suffers, and it provides some tacky, underwhelming moments from a band looking to destroy their own momentum.
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