Rave Recs Favorites Contest: White Stripes v. The Strokes

[mad rhetorik]

Match 2, Current Bands Division: <b>White Stripes v. The Strokes</b>

Polls close 4/18.

[3-LockBox]

I don't even think this one will be close. Jack White has put out at least three consecutive great albums, and <b>The Strokes</b> haven't been as consistant IMO.

[DariusNYC]

Wow, this is a tough one. In many ways I approve of the White Stripes more, and I think they're more innovative (in their own retro way); and I think that Jack White is a great musician (vocalist and guitarist). But, you know, I just like the Strokes better. And I like their last album better than Elephant, although Elephant was more ambitious and even epic-sounding at times. I just think the Strokes have such a perfect rock-n-roll sound, with their interlocking guitars and excellent rhythm section and that great vocal sound that Casablancas gets. That atmosphere of casual decadence that they create in their songs, and the catchiness of the songs themselves, wins me over too. I've seen both bands live. White Stripes but on a great show the first time I saw them and a very good show the second. Their first show was just so passionate; they just emotionally went for broke and Jack White had an improvisational intensity that was riveting. On the other hand, the Strokes show I saw seemed like it could have been the worst show of the entire tour. Casablancas had the flu and was also drunk and acted like an idiot between songs; the rest of the band just stood there when they played and often gave him dirty looks. But yet it was awesome -- when they were playing they were SO GOOD. It didn't matter to me that it looked like they weren't putting their hearts into it, and Julian was a drunken idiot; the show was that good because they are just that good. So both the first White Stripes show and the Strokes show that I saw were among the best rock shows I've ever seen; the White Stripes had the emotional intensity and the Strokes just effortlessly rocked. So that's a toss up; my love for The Strokes recent album Room on Fire, as opposed to WS's Elephant, wins it for me.