Avoiding the second-album slump

Two years ago, the Strokes catapulted to the pinnacle of rock's musical spectrum with its critically acclaimed debut Is This It. Now, after serious bouts of touring, a failed collaboration with producer extraordinaire Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead) and a return to former boardman Gordon Raphael, the furious fivesome have avoided the dreaded sophomore slump and hit pay dirt with Room on Fire.\nThe record isn't successful for straying from the formula set forth by its predecessor but rather by honing it. Where the first album had a loose, low-rent sound, Room on Fire seems methodically plotted. Listeners will quickly realize production values have been increased substantially. Though, this is money well spent, the resulting cuts are much richer and fuller sounding. \nThe record kicks off with the highly ironic "What Ever Happened?" in which frontman Julian Casablancas navigates his way through a warbled sea of distortion singing, "I want to be forgotten/And I don't want to be reminded." Strange, coming from one of rock's supposed saviors.\nThis is followed by the sterling one-two punch of "Automatic Stop," a reggae-tinged look into a flawed threesome replete with witty lyrics ("So many fish there in the sea/She wanted him/He wanted me"), and leadoff single "12:51," which with its synth-like guitar lines and incessant handclapping is a shoo-in for catchiest song of the year.\n Further highlights include Casablancas' stab at crooning with the neo-soul of "Under Control" and "The End Has No End," a jumbled bit of new wave boogie-woogie tailor-made for someone doing the "Carlton" dance and playing Q*Bert simultaneously.\nThese silver-spooned New York scamps long to be taken seriously (hence, the flirtation with Godrich), and in spite of lyrics concerning high school dances, parents being gone for the weekend and worrying about finals, the bid pays off beautifully. The Strokes are no flash in the pan but rather five young men on the cusp of bigger and better things. \nGranted, Room on Fire is essentially little more than a reinvention of Is This It, which itself was a riff on the Velvet Underground, Television and, yes, even Buddy Holly, but it wasn't boring then and it sure as hell isn't boring now. If anything, the album's only drawback is its length -- at a paltry 33 minutes, the Strokes are giving Weezer a run for its money in the short record department. When rip-off artists are as adept as these guys, more is certainly merrier.