I've been undergoing something of a Strokes rennaisance recently, as Is This It? has, for whatever happy reason, once again become part of my regular listening habits. That album's mechanical and minimalist yet energetic, warm and breezy take on New York City arty garage pop is a great reason as to why we cared about this band in the first place. Julian Casablancas wrote excellent songs and sang them in an alternately carefree and desperate, pleading manner. The band's attack, which blended Albert Hammond Jr.'s and Nick Valensi's chiming, economical guitars, Nikolai Fraiture's simple yet punctuating bass, and Fab Moretti's near-motorik drum beats that recall Ringo Starr, Steven Morris during his Joy Division years, and the Cure's Lol Tolhurst, complemented those songs perfectly.Also evincing how great the Strokes were back in the day is this pre-hype, pre-Is This It?, pre-First Impressions of Earth backlash set at New York Manhattan hot spot Arlene Grocery. In this footage, the band's appeal lies less with their robotic yet soulful charm than with thier energy, speed, and volume. They were a punk rock force to be reckoned with that day almost exactly seven years ago, miles away from the deadly serious, guitar shredding, Eddie Vedder jamming Strokes of today (The Eddie Vedder B-side cameo is espescialy ironic, as part of what I found appealing about the Strokes back in the day was that they were against the manufactured arena-angst of the 1990s). As an added bonus, there's four songs that have never seen official release, all of which qualify for "lost gem" status. Hope you enjoy the video!Set List:SomaThis Life (Trying Your Luck)New York City CopsIn Her PrimeSagganutsThe Rhythm SongAlone TogetherA Minor 4-4