The Strokes Reveal More Details on New LP

An interview with generally tight-lipped singer Julian Casablancas offers a number of nuggets, as he speaks at length about the sessions for the new LP-- starting with the band's experience working with producer, David Kahne. "I think he's really cool," Casablancas says. "I think when you first meet him though, you can sort of get caught in the façade. He has a very technical knowledge and he'll be very quick to casually spew it out. You might think he's just some serious slick hit-maker and that he doesn't care about music, but that's what he's all about: music. He cares about it so deeply that if you change a little part, and you're hurting the song, he'll cry."

Kahne, who previously produced albums by Paul McCartney, Sugar Ray, and the Presidents of the United States of America, originally seemed like an odd choice for the band, whose sound is so deeply rooted in New York lo-fi cool, and Casablancas also admits to creative tension in the studio. "He likes that atonal modern stuff, so he doesn't mind being weird and original, and that's what he prays for. But then, sometimes something that just has a cool thing that's not popular, he'll want to transform it into something that could be more accessible, but all it's coolness is erased. That's the main compromise that we have trouble with. I mean sure, I understand on every mindless level why it's, like, pleasant, but no, it's not what I want to sing. It's the difference between lame and cool."

Potential lameness aside, Casablancas also sheds some light on the album's ever-lengthening production cycle, which we've been reporting on since, oh, the summer of 2004 (but who's keeping track?). "I guess the game has changed," he shares. "It's a new sort of approach. I always felt that it [Room on Fire] was sort of Part 2. Is This It was sort of a two-parter. Like the first 22 songs. It's such a different process. I have a lot more trust now. David gets seriously good sounds, and I don't even have to be there when they do the drums and bass and most of the guitars. I think we realized that what we wanted is not some professional slickness to our music, it's the mixture of someone [Kahne] who has that kind of knowledge, with the kind of thing that we want-- which is something that doesn't exist too much. So it's hard, we're sort of inventing it as we go along."

With the band's previous two records so similar in delivery, plus or minus a couple Cars riffs, fans have ultimately been left wondering how the new record will sound without longtime collaborator Gordon Raphael behind the console. "I've sort of made sure there are no parts there that are impossible [to play live]. Some things on the drums are going to be tricky, and Albert may have to mimic two rhythms at times, but it's all do-able. It's not like we have a lute and a harp and it's going to be there live. There's delay on it. I never liked it, but now it's sort of everywhere on the record. Not crazy 80s reverb, just enough to give a lot of the instruments space so it sounds fuller, bigger, and louder, and what I used to call 'more professional.'"

As for the album's current status, the Strokes are now holed up in a New York City studio mixing a total of 14 tracks for the disc with Andy Wallace (Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Jeff Buckley). And although it's stressed that they're still unsure how many of the songs will make the final cut, the three tracks we told you about last month-- "Vision of Division", "Razor Blade", and "Ask Me Anything"-- have been confirmed as definite members of the hallowed tracklist. Previous speculation that the album will see a January 2006 release is also confirmed, although a date has yet to be specified (hey, who needs the Christmas sales-- not the Strokes!).

And while Strokes newsletters aren't flying off eBay like they used to, the fan club package also shipped with an exclusive band DVD, which includes a 1-track live clip of "Reptilia" taken from the group's performance at the 2004 Big Day Out festival. And while cool and all, after a couple spins, my inner Ebert says save your auction cash, as it's hardly a professional affair-- looking more like a film school editing project than David LaChapelle wet dream. But since most of you tend to grade the Strokes on a Grand Canyon-sized curve, Paypal away, kids!

In other Strokes news, New York Post's Page Six reports that guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. is opening a New York club with comedian/actor David Cross. The pair and two others are buying into Lower East Side nightclub Eleven, a three-level space. Both the current owner and promoter will remain on, while Cross' girlfriend, Sara Egan, will manage the club.

Finally, as previously reported, the Strokes have also announced plans to tour South America this October-- specifically Brazil, Argentina, and Chile-- although those details are also coming together (sorry live dates, take a number). A large-scale U.S. tour is also supposedly in the works after the new album's release early next year. We'll keep you posted.

The Strokes: http://www.thestrokes.com