The Strokes "Is This It" delayed (1 Viewer)

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Went to get The Strokes' album today and found that it was been delayed because of "objectionable lyrics" regarding recent national events. Now I don't know what exactly the deal is or what is objectionable (the song title "New York City Cops" would lead me to believe it is the offender), but in a kneejerk reaction, I will say that I find this somewhat disturbing.
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[Camp]

I know nothing about the Strokes but have been hearing a lot of buzz about this forthcoming album. Why are these guys (potentially) so hot right now? What do they sound like?

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

It's a stripped-down New York sound, reminiscent of Television with a touch of the NY Dolls thrown in the mix. Not as great as everyone says, but in the light of the simply awful other material which is popular these days, it seems positively relevatory. They're supposed to be dynamite live.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

By a stroke of good luck, I happened to find a copy of this (it pays to ask the clerk sometimes). I had been told by an indie record store owner that all copies had been pulled worldwide because of the song "New York City Cops", which will be removed. (Take this as rumor rather than fact.) They didn't have any copies.
Funny thing is, I suppose, is that I swear I heard this song on the radio a couple months ago on a show that features indie bands. The "objectionable" part, far as I can tell, is the chorus, "New York City cops, they ain't too smart." OK, in light of what's going on, expressing such a sentiment is in poor taste, but this is hardly worth the controversy. (Are all the NWA albums with "F--- the Police" going to get pulled now?)
The Strokes may be derivative, but this album is the first rock record in a while to have energy like this. And any band that thanks Guided By Voices in their liner notes probably can't be too bad

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[Anthony Stephan]

Mark,
YOu are correct, that is exactly why the album was pulled.
There are some promo copies out there with the NYPD track on the album but the interesting thing was that RCA wanted to keep the record out there.
It was pulled at the request of the band.