I reckon that most sensible people were past the hype -- backlash -- backlash-against-the-backlash thing that the Strokes copped in relation to Is This It by the time Room On Fire came out, and have had time since to work out that (a) Is This It doesn't sound that much like Television, (b) Room On Fire doesn't sound that much like the Cars (well okay, except on one or two songs), and (c) while the Strokes aren't likely to save rock and roll, both of their lps to date have been pretty darn solid, catchy pop-rock record-things, and they're a pretty darn good band.
As to this newest one, well, the first thing one notices is that it's a bit of a change in sound - more 'stadium-rock' in sound, and fuller and harder-rocking (though it also has more slow songs), maybe a little more expansive and definitely more diverse and covering more ground than the earlier two albums. The second thing to notice is that despite these changes, it still sounds every inch a Strokes album. And the third thing, which comes quite a bit later, is that, contrary to first impressions (no pun intended), it's not that much of a drop-off from Is This It and Room On Fire.
There are plenty of things wrong with First Impressions of Earth - it's too long, some of the experiments don't work (the world didn't need the Strokes to go all Magnetic Fields, as on "Ask Me Anything"), a few of the songs drag. But on the other side of the ledger, when it hits ("You Only Live Once", "Juicebox", "Heart In A Cage", "Killing Lies"), it hits hard, and you have to give the band credit for stretching themselves (even if, on this third outing, the alternative would have been assured mediocrity). Cons, pros...the album may not be as tight as I'd like, but the band is as tight as ever; some of the songs which eventually fall into heaps or become boring at least start really well or have really good bits ("On The Other Side", "Vision Of Division", the Muse-esque "Electricityscape"). On the whole, it doesn't quite work for me, but it's neither a complete nor an ignoble failure.
