By Cori

Paste Magazine reported today that The Strokes are back in the studio, working on a new album. Initially I was excited- how awesome was Is This It? That record hit me like a freight train and changed my ears forever. But then, it all came back to me. My late 2001 love affair with Julian Casablancas' voice, and in the spirit of full disclosure, his hair. Playing the album so many times that the CD became softly rounded on the edges and scratched to hell. Knowing every word to every song, and singing along loudly, albeit badly. I loved this band. I couldn't wait for more. I couldn't wait to see them live.

On January 28, 2002, the spell was broken at The Web Theater when The Strokes took the stage. All of the magic in Is This It began to wane about the time I realized Julian was so drunk he could barely stand, and vanished completely when he fell over backward, completing the set from a supine position in the middle of the stage. Don't get me wrong, the music was sound- in fact, it sounded so perfect that I almost wondered if they were lip-syncing. (They weren't) But I expected more. I expected the band to be as excited about the show as the audience was. In reality, it seemed like that stage was the last place they wanted to be.

When Room on Fire was released, I was still bitter. First Impressions of Earth found me slightly softened toward the band, so I gave it a shot. It wasn't Is This It, nor was it particularly noteworthy, but I couldn't hate them anymore.

Since the release of First Impressions of Earth, the band has been busy doing other things- 2 solo albums for Albert Hammond Jr., one for Julian, the Little Joy collaboration for Fabrizio Moretti- and my hope is that they've grown up a little. Maybe, just maybe, the time they've spent apart has given them just what they need to be bigger and better than ever.