The Strokes - Reptilia
[Rough Trade]

Pioneers of punk & hard-rockers are everything The Strokes fail to be. But the writer's of stupidly infectious songs? Hell yeh, the 4-piece are up there with the finest for creating moments of catchy, unbeatable chart action. An ultra-cool band with more fun singles than most groups have had hot dinners.

'Reptilia' is instantly recognisable of the New York pretty boy's sound, amps cranked up to 11, loose guitars, throbbing bass and Julian's distorted, post Iggy snarl. Reminiscent of 'Last Night' or 'New York City Cops', it is one of their more upbeat, raw tracks. Time to party boys & girls, this is the feel-good anthem of the year.

The B-side is the long talked about Regina Spektor collaboration, with the addition of female vocals 'Post Modern Girls' could have been a refreshing change of sound. Instead there's a struggle for a decent melody & out of time vocals, horribly drenched in reverb. Poor production, naff lyrics & a tune which appears incomplete, how disappointing. What went wrong is anyone's guess.

Check out 'Reptilia' but skip the flip, there's no need for lazily recorded material & it takes away the kick of the A-side. Still sounds like The Strokes, but why shouldn't they keep to a perfect formula? At least they're still writing great song after song.