Stereogum's Pretty "ST(R)OKED" About This Is It's 10-Year Anniversary

As a 23-year-old recently graduated college student... who's being thrust into the "real job" force, I feel "old" sometimes. It doesn't help that I'm slowly but surely losing my hair and everything around me just seems to be changing @ a rapid pace. An avid music fan, lately I've been hearing a lot about Popular album anniversaries - Records that have achieved "classic" status within the span of my lifetime. This makes me feel a tad bit older... but @ the same time, it's comforting to revisit a handful of the first records I really got into as a kid-teenager.
The Strokes' debut album (Is This It) was first released Across the Pond [UK] with the original "Spinal Tap - Smell the Glove"-esque artwork fully intact on August 27, 2001. As usual, it was then released @ a later date in The States [USA]... In lieu of 9/11, Is This It was finally liberated in Oct. of 2001; Omitting "New York City Cops" for obvious reasons and packaged with alternate artwork.

"Back when Is This It was released, everyone was going crazy over how much The Strokes sounded like [Velvet Underground], Television, and Iggy & The Stooges. But to me, there first single "Last Nite" always felt like a Beatles song. The way the rhythmic elements always stay out of the way of the vocal, that one note guitar line a la George Harrison, even Julian's vocal has that combo of snotty grit and melody that reminds of Lennon. But beyond all that, the reason it really feels like a Beatles song is the structure. It's classic, early Beatles-Lennon, and an approach to Pop [music] structure that still hasn't really been tapped into.
There's no clear verse or chorus, just one main hook and melody. The only other section is a short bridge, that really just acts as a kind of propeller for the main melody, giving it the momentum it needs to come back over and over and over again. That's good Pop [music]! And of course the middle 8 is replaced by a guitar solo because, well, they're The Strokes. For our cover, we turned that structure on its head. The sections still occur in the same order, but we have re-imagined them. The main "Last Nite" melody/lyric becomes a proper verse, and the section that used to be a short bridge becomes the proper chorus/hook. At the end, everything intersects with each other and we have a melodic party. Pretty fun, right?"

- Chris Chu (the morning benders)

Much thanks due to my buddy Kev's earnest research, a few additional landmark releases with upcoming "birthdays" were uncovered: Sublime - Sublime (15 July 30th), Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger (20 August 10th), Pearl Jam - Ten (20 August 27th), and Nirvana - Nevermind (20 Sept. 24th). Last week, SPIN let loose a free download of "Newermind:" Nirvana Tribute Mixtape online... complete with a new Nevermind-centric issue of the print magazine. In a similar vein, the good people over @ Stereogum assembled their own batch of Indie bands and had them record their takes on The Strokes' album tracks; The result - "STROKED: A Tribute to Is This It," which includes: Peter Bjorn & John, the morning benders, Chelsea Wolfe, Heems (Das Racist), and Wise Blood. The complete, 11-track deep covers album can be downloaded and experienced [read] in full over @ Stereogum.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel

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