The next day, a fifth song leaked. Indeed, by now the leaks had grown so commonplace that Stereogum didn’t even do a standalone post for “Razorblade.” Its arrival was announced in the comments section of a post about Britney Spears’ and Kevin Federline’s son, Preston, titled “The Mystery Of The Vanishing Sean Preston Federline Photos.” What were the commenters saying about this one? I’m not a huge supporter of side/solo stuff. I’m of the opinion that you’re in a band and that’s what you do. If there’s leftover material and time, then sure, by all means. But if you’re playing material that you haven’t even shown to your main band and you’re just sort of keeping it for yourself, I’m not a big fan of that. Once you’re past the opening riff and have worked out that the bloke singing like an American Alan Rake having his tonsils removed with a blowtorch is actually what Julian Casablancas sounds like when amplified, the Strokesian meta-brilliance of “Juicebox” burns stronger than a pile of Kate Moss modeling contracts. When the album landed in stores, its commercial reception seemed to further substantiate the decisions made by the band. First Impressions Of Earth debuted at #1 in the UK — a momentous event, as both Room On Fire and Is This It never got higher than #2 in that Strokes-fevered region. It also debuted at #4 in the US — moving an impressive 88,000 units in its first week — and in the top 10 in six other markets. The Strokes had reached new heights, and they’d only released one single off First Impressions. There were still 13 more to choose from!

Ainsi, les Strokes montrent qu'ils ne sont pas les artistes d'un seul disque, et qu'ils vieillissent très bien. Mais on sait malheureusement que la critique détruit très vite ce qu'elle a adoré hier ... Lee, Tim (2006-01-02). "The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth". musicOMH . Retrieved 2013-03-23. Rough Trade/EU press, cut at optimal by MK. Really good pressing, much better than the Masterdisk US press. Ultratop.be – The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2020.Spanishcharts.com – The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2020. That sort of ambition might seem gauche, but coming from the Strokes, it wasn’t unreasonable. Without the Strokes, there would be no Killers, no Kings Of Leon, no Franz Ferdinand. In a 2011 Stereogum interview, Alex Turner more or less said that without the Strokes, his own band, Arctic Monkeys, might never have come into existence:

blade-runner (2006-01-17). "The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth". Punknews.org . Retrieved 2013-03-23. If anyone walked into a local bar and saw a band playing a song that sounded like this they would point and laugh. Swisscharts.com – The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2020. These new lifestyles were mentioned in nearly every feature written about the band around the release of First Impressions. And they were largely noted as positive changes, not only for the health of the individual band members, but the health of the band itself. It seemed tomorrow would be different after all! In McInerney’s New York Magazine piece, the author wrote: “Now everyone agrees that First Impressions is their most collaborative effort to date.”Finally, MOV, now I usually shy away from MOV in general due to their digital sources and possibly not having the best digital to analog converters, as that’s basically what we hear on the vinyl.