Pitchfork: The Strokes Already at Work on Third Album

The Strokes Already at Work on Third Album
Nine-month gestation to result in swollen, sensitive breasts

Cory D. Byrom & James Gregory report:
Should it matter that it hasn't even been nine months since the release of their second full-length, Room on Fire? Apparently, it doesn't at all, because those crazy progenitors of the garage-rock revival, The Strokes, are already headed back into the studio, full-steam. Indeed, with their superstar status (awarded only to those with simultaneous cover stories in Rolling Stone, Spin and People Weekly) completely secured, the band will be working deadline-free at a studio built in their rehearsal space.

Speaking with Billboard, Strokes manager Ryan Gentles explained that this album marks an entirely new approach for the band, and that he suspects it will yield their strongest results to date. And he's not just hyping: Rather than writing a handful of songs, recording them, and calling it a day, Gentles says the band will simply "record everything that they do over the next eight-to-ten months, and shape the new songs for the next record out of that."

Longtime producer Gordon Raphael will once again man the decks for these sessions. However, seeing that the band has just begun preproduction, and that Gentles is referencing eight-to-ten months, we think it's safe to say that the record won't be hitting stores until at least late 2005.

In the meantime, The Strokes have got a handful of live dates scheduled, not least of which is Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival (or LSIUGF, for the sake of brevity and amusement). Yes, none other than Steve Van Zandt-- of E Street Band and Sopranos fame-- has assembled a slew of garage-rockers young, old, super-old for a $20-a-ticket festival spin-off of his nationally broadcast radio show. According to Billboard, LSIUGF is set to roll on Saturday, August 14th at Randall's Island in New York, with The Strokes headlining alongside Iggy & The Stooges, The New York Dolls, and Bo Diddley.

The event will mark the first live U.S. gig in more than, like, 1,000 years for the recently reunite New York Dolls who, as previously reported, were wooed from retirement by none other than Morrissey. Also scheduled to perform at LSIUGF is a veritable army of hipster favorites, including The Raveonettes, The Pretty Things, The Mooney Suzuki, The Romantics, The Chesterfield Kings, The Fuzztones, The Electric Prunes, The Contrast, The Cocktail Strippers, The High Dials, The Chains, and The Flaming Sideburns. (Sadly, The The were unavailable.)

After this landmark performance, our acid-washed heroes will make their way to that great European continent in the sky to play a series of summer festivals, including Ireland's Oxygen on July 10th, Scotland's T in the Park on July 11th, and England's V2004 on August 21st and 22, before heading back to the studio to concentrate on recording for the remainder of the year.

As for upcoming U.S. gigs, well, the band toured here pretty recently, and all our festivals tank anyway, so you probably shouldn't get your hopes up. Unless, of course, you happen to live in New York City, in which case there's a remote chance you might blowjob your way into one of their possible upcoming shows: Speaking about the band's tour schedule, Gentles revealed that "they might bow out once or twice to do a show here and there-- just around New York for the band to try out new material." That's amore!