LP
RCA (2014) US
Is This It, the landmark debut from the Strokes, kickstarted a garage-rock revolution that defined American music from 2001 through 2005. Featuring taut rhythms, frentic tempos, scruffy grooves, melodic hooks, cool-toned vocals, choppy riffs, backstreet attitude, and twitchy arrangements that equally reference Motown, American punk, new wave, and funk, the album is a watershed document that takes off on the influences of James Brown, Television, and the Yardbirds and creates something entirely fresh, new, and irresistible. The Platinum-certified effort is home to the name-making singles "Hard to Explain," "Last Nite" and "Someday."