The Strokes Settle On 'Earth' Songs

the Strokes

The Strokes have selected the 14 songs that will be found on their third RCA album, "First Impressions of Earth." Due Jan. 3, the set is presently unsequenced but is generating early buzz thanks to the single "Juicebox," which climbed from No. 21 to a new peak of No. 16 last week on Billboard's Modern Rock airplay chart.

Beyond the eight songs first previewed by Billboard.com in September, "First Impressions" will also include "On the Other Side," "Killing Lies," "Fear of Sleep," "Evening Sun," "15 Minutes" and "Red Light."

Powered by a persistent high-hat beat, "On the Other Side" resembles a broken-down gospel tune, with frontman Julian Casablancas singing, "No one is waiting for me / on the other side."

"Killing Lies" embraces a New Wave-style sound with big chorus and dominant drums, while the protagonist bitterly kisses-off his too-cool "other" in "Red Light." With its raw, garage-y approach, "Fear of Sleep" is more reminiscent of material from the Strokes' 2001 debut, "Is This It?," than many of the other tracks here.

"Evening Sun" nearly summarizes the band's polarizing appeal with the lyric "They love you or they hate you," while "15 Minutes" starts out lazily, but revs up in the middle to full-speed.

The Strokes just wrapped a short run of shows in South America, at which they debuted such new tunes as "Juicebox," "Heart in a Cage" and "Razorblade." Additional performances are expected closer to the new album's release date.

The new album is the follow-up to 2003's "Room on Fire," which didn't stray far from the rambunctious rock'n'roll of "Is This It?" But its sales dropped off significantly; "Room on Fire" moved 572,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while "Is This It?" has shifted more than 1 million.

Here is the unsequenced song list for "First Impressions of Earth":

"You Only Live Once"
"Juicebox"
"Heart In a Cage"
"Razorblade"
"On the Other Side"
"Vision of Division"
"Ask Me anything"
"Electricityscape"
"Killing Lies"
"Fear of Sleep"
"Evening Sun"
"Ize of the World"
"15 Minutes"
"Red Light"

source: billboard