Room On Fire

About

How do you follow up a debut like <i>Is This It</i>? In the case of The Stroke, by not losing your cool. Released two years later, <i>Room On Fire</i> doesn’t overhaul the strong points of that 2001 milestone. Rather, it reunites the New York five-piece with producer Gordon Raphael for what initially feels like more of the same—in the best possible way. Take the single “Reptilia,” which rides its straight-arrow bassline right into the familiar signature of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr.’s taut guitar exchange. It could have easily slotted into the earlier record, if not for a borderline-hoarse vocal turn from Julian Casablancas after so many months of relentless touring. Likewise, “What Ever Happened?” seems to reflect on the exhaustion of overnight fame with the album’s opening couplet: “I wanna be forgotten/And I don’t wanna be reminded.” <i>Room On Fire</i> came together after abandoned sessions with close Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich, and returning producer Raphael once again opts for vintage warmth over modern polish. But though many of these songs preserve the early material’s clipped endings and stubborn forward drive, there are playful new tricks spread throughout the runtime. Valensi flashes bright, synth-like guitar tones on “The End Has No End” and especially “12:51,” while “The Way It Is” applies a similar tactic to Fabrizio Moretti’s drum work, rendering it with mechanical stiffne. Casablancas adopts softer, more romantic vocals against reggae-esque licks on “Automatic Stop,” before evoking a slow-dance number on prom night with the ballad “Under Control.” And more than just a druggy time capsule of early-2000s exce, “Meet Me in the Bathroom” went on to inspire both a book and documentary film of the same name. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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