LP
RCA (2006) US
Their prospects dangerously over-inflated by pundits who often hailed their debut as nothing short of rock-messianic, New York City's The Strokes got a lesson in cynical rock-press dynamics when their biz-troubled, if similarly toned, 2003 sophomore set was dutifully dismissed as the proverbial sophomore slump. A lesser band might have been chastened by the experience; this one responded with a third album that positively bristles with energetic challenges. Revolving around a loose concept that allows songwriter/frontman Julian Casablancas to adopt a viewpoint that's as detached as it is world-weary and bemused, it's a record that quickly trades the often precious production conceits of its forebears for a muscular confidence that's notable from the infectious, back-to-the-80s opener 'You Only Live Once' to its perfect bookend 'Red Light.'