Is This It

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King of the Rumbling Spires, anyone? Mungo Jerry meeting MC5 at CB GBs whilst Wire protest that they are, in fact, the fly in the ointment? One of the many charms of the Strokes over-hyped and over here debut ,'Is That It?', is that it's hard to find anything to compare it with that's under twenty years old. Altered Images circa 'Insects'? Nah, never heard of? Well that's just downright unfair because all of the aforementioned are drenched in impeachable timing, tune-smithery andoff-the-shoulder, drop-dead style. As are The Strokes, whose unashamed plundering of punk attitood and the three chord portmanteau lends their take on music a kind of sneering aplomb safety-pinned to their own ear for the perfectly beguiling pop moment. Both the 'Hard To Explain' and 'The Modern Age' singles are here, as are 'NYC Cops' - as performed on UK's 'Top of the Pops' - and a whole thriving gang of skinny-ribbed masterpieces.