There has been a lot of hype surrounding the Strokes. On the strength of a few singles the band have been hailed as everything. The New York five-piece's second album is this, the aptly titled Is This It?.

It opens with the title track. Instantly heard is the unique hard and distorted vocal of Julian Casablancas.

Next up is The Modern Age, one of the singles. A bit faster with a similar sounding vocal. The music is very simple but is made to sound stylish, cool; brilliant. Julian's vocals play a big part in that, as does Nick Valensi's guitar.

One of the highlights of this long-player is the fast punk-ish Last Night. Julian passionately roars the addictive vocals: "Last night, She said, Oh baby I feel so down, you turn me off, when I feel left out." Brilliant.

New York City Cops is track number nine. A fast steady rhythm fuelled by Nick's guitar.

The album ends with another highlight Take It Or Leave It. What a fantastic end to this great album. Again, Julian puts everything into the vocals.

So, is this punk? Not really, they are comparable to Talking Heads, Television, Velvet Underground etc. Whatever this is, it's brilliant. Believe the hype.