‘The Modern Age’: The Strokes song that immediately won over Rough Trade
It’s difficult to imagine a time before The Strokes were one of the biggest bands in guitar music, a time before Julian Casablancas became New York City’s indie rock it boy and Is This It found its way into the record collections of kids all over the world. But before Casablancas and the band found fame and acclaim amidst the garage and post-punk revival of the 2000s, they needed to secure a record deal.
For some artists, this task can take years. Some bands play countless shows, build up loyal followings, and send out hundreds of emails to labels before receiving a positive response. Others get lucky. They land a viral moment on social media or collate an online following that gets them noticed by music industry executives. For The Strokes, it took just 15 seconds.
The Strokes formed in the late 1990s, but they came into their own in the 2000s. Audiences were longing for a return to the sounds of the late 1970s, the cool guitars that made up post-punk and garage rock, and The Strokes fit right into that category. They spent the first year or so of the decade carving out this sound for themselves, penning catchy guitar riffs to soundtrack tales of youth and love in New York.
In doing so, they captured the attention of every indie band’s dream label, Rough Trade Records. A demo landed on Geoff Travis’ desk, who was immediately convinced. The Rough Trade founder didn’t even listen to an entire song. He was convinced by just 15 seconds of an early track called ‘The Modern Age’ and immediately decided to sign them.
“You hear that riff,” he recalled during a conversation with The Guardian, “The way the guitars start, and that’s just classic rock’n’roll that you don’t hear enough.” Fortunately for audiences, ‘The Modern Age’ made its way beyond demo status and earned a place on the band’s iconic debut album, Is This It, in 2001, allowing fans to hear the song that won The Strokes their deal with Rough Trade.
Opening with a simple but undeniably rocking riff, it’s easy to see why Travis was immediately captured by the track. ‘The Modern Age’ was a hint at what was to come from Casablancas and his bandmates: a slew of indie rock riffs and lo-fi vocals, a simultaneously fresh and nostalgic take on rock and roll. Beyond this, Travis was also sold on the “control” they showed.
“It was that lovely thing of perfectly controlled tension,” he remembered, “It seems too easy, but it’s so hard to do. Rock’n’roll is not intellectual – it’s primal, it’s emotional. The Strokes just had it, really.” This is another element of their sound that they have harboured and honed ever since, creating tension by keeping their sounds small and fuzzy but also allowing the riffs to thrive.
Signing a band based on just 15 seconds of music, without even waiting for the singer’s voice to kick in, may seem like a bold choice, but Travis knew exactly what he was doing. Decades later, The Strokes remain one of the most important indie rock outfits in modern history, their tunes just as riff-heavy and singalong-worthy as in the early 2000s. Travis’ decision may have been brash, but it has entirely paid off.
