When The Strokes [ tickets ] released their first singles in 2001, sweeping New York City and seemingly all of the UK into a frenzy, the band paved the way for all the retro-ness that's arrived since then.

Skinny-boy, classic-rock and '80s revivalists Franz Ferdinand, Kings of Leon and The Killers owe much of their success to the still-early-20-somethings from Manhattan who, with their first album, "Is This It," dismissed overproduced noise for garage-band simplicity.

But where The Killers have blended their influences into perfect little radio-friendly pieces of pop, The Strokes, with their third album, "First Impressions of Earth," seem more interested in creating something new. Sure, they're still borrowing from CBGB's finest--most notably Lou Reed--and their interspersed keyboard bits and guitar breaks bring to mind everyone from Blondie to Yazz.

Yet, here, The Strokes advance old skills while getting innovative: a dangerous surf guitar drives "Juicebox," stormy drums fill "Heart in a Cage," and most tracks veer between verses and choruses that sound nothing like each other. Meanwhile, lead singer Julian Casablancas gets--in his words and vocals--paranoid and playful, intense and then hilarious. In the best example, "Razorblade," over a sunny chorus somehow echoing Barry Manilow's "Mandy," Casablancas croons, "Oh, drop dead/I don't care/I won't worry." And while a few too many tunes--especially in the album's second half--don't display this much invention, there's much here to show it was no accident that it was these boys who five years ago re-opened the door on dirty, old rock-and-roll, and not anyone who's followed since.