Is This It?

Hard to believe it's been ten years this week since the Strokes phenomenal debut album Is This It. When it came out, it didn't sound like anything else, it made New York the epicenter of cool again, and it ushered in a new wave of like-minded bands from both here and abroad. In the years that followed, the Strokes never really captured the energy, spirit and impact of their debut, but their immortality was secure on the strength of Is This It alone.

Now there's a tribute album called STROKED... A Tribute to Is This It which you can download for free over at stereogum.com. I downloaded two tracks this morning: Real Estate's version of "Barely Legal" -- which sounds like Real Estate doing  the Strokes. The second track I downloaded -- and the reason I was attracted to the project in the first place -- is "New York City Cops" by Heems, who is one half of Das Racist. Apart from a sped up sample of the chorus from the original song, Heems' version doesn't resemble the Strokes at all. In fact, it's a rapped litany of victims of police brutality in New York.