Now this new band comes along. Five young guys who play electric music but do not feel the need to beat one over the head in order to prove how talented they are. They strum their guitars and sing about the old standbys: sex and drugs and rock and roll. On several of their songs, their lead singer, Julian Casablancas, sounds like he is singing through the handset of a pay phone on the corner of E. Houston and Ludlow.

Have we heard it all before? Sure we haven't. The Strokes revel in their low-fi influences, and on their major label debut, Is This It?, explode the notion that everything old cannot sound new and fresh again. Paying homage to their New York roots, this quintet proves that in their case, it is time to start believing the hype.

With a youthful exuberance that is so obviously missing from all the pre-packaged, over-managed acts hitting the scene today, The Strokes combine solid musicianship with tight sub-three-minute songs that get in, tell their story, and get out; a musical hit-and-run that leaves you looking for the license plate number of the truck so that you can make sure to get run over again the next time it screeches around the block.

Songs like "The Modern Age" and "Alone, Together" confirm the rumors. When Casablancas sings "Life seems unreal, can we go back to your place," it is just part of the story, and he leaves it to the listeners to realize that this is one of the great pick-up lines ever. "Last Nite," a song about leaving that girl behind, where The Strokes wear their influences like great big overcoats, is one of the catchiest tunes of the year.

(Fans of the band who wondered where "New York City Cops" went, it was taken off the North American version of the disc after the tragic events of September 11 and replaced by "How It Started." (For those not aware, the song contained the lyrics "New York City cops/They ain't too smart."))

That's what Is This It is; that kid you knew in high school who, despite getting good grades, being an all-state varsity athlete, and playing the lead in every school play, was just another one of the guys, with his blue jeans, white tee, and black leather jacket. Still, everyone who looked at him knew that this guy was going places.