The best song from every album by The Strokes
When The Strokes burst onto the scene in the late 1990s, they attracted lots of attention after continuously performing in New York, eventually meeting producer Gordon Raphael at a gig who offered to record an EP with them.
After the band sent their demo to Rough Trade Records before releasing a free MP3 download of ‘Last Nite’ on NME’s website, The Modern Age EP sparked a bidding war between labels who couldn’t get enough of the up-and-coming indie rockers.
The five-piece released their debut album in 2001, entitled Is This It, which became highly revered amongst critics. The album defined the indie-rock and garage-rock revival of the early 2000s, and was highly influential over their contemporaries, with the likes of Brandon Flowers from The Killers saying it was so good it made him “depressed.”
Is This It championed a lo-fi sound and incorporated influences spanning 1960s rock, such as The Velvet Underground, 1970s post-punk bands like Wire, Gang of Four, and Television, as well as more recent Britpop artists such as Pulp and Blur.
Since the huge success of their debut album, which inspired the formation of bands such as Arctic Monkeys, (as Alex Turner sang in ‘Star Treatment’: “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes”), the band have released five more studio albums, as well as an EP.
The Strokes’ most recent album, 2020’s The New Abnormal, saw them gain new fans amongst a younger generation after the track ‘The Adults Are Talking’ blew up on TikTok. This is exactly why the band are so highly regarded. With their esteemed debut 20 years behind them, The Strokes demonstrated their ability to make fresh and innovative work that can reach further than just old-time fans.
With so many incredible songs in their back catalogue it’s hard to pick just one song from each album to call the best, and that doesn’t even scrape the surface of great non-album tracks such as ‘You Only Live Once.’
The best song from every album by The Strokes:
‘Hard to Explain’ – Is This It (2001)
Despite the huge popularity of ‘Last Nite’ and ‘Someday,’ the band initially gained much traction from the release of the album’s lead single ‘Hard to Explain.’
The track features drum beats that sound like they’ve been created on a drum machine, however, on a Reddit AMA, Raphael revealed, “basically 3 microphones, kick snare hat. and used gates, compression and eq to destroy the reality of the normal drum sound…. and then we looped each different section so the beat was super tight– mechanical.”
Although the peppy drums drive the track forward, this contrasts a recognisable guitar riff that evokes a feeling of nostalgia and even slight melancholy as Julian Casablancas frequently sings in harmony with the chords.
‘Reptilia’ – Room on Fire (2003)
Following Is This It was Room on Fire, also produced by Raphael. Although the album was generally praised positively, the acclaim wasn’t as unanimous as their debut. Regardless, the album contains some of the band’s best work. Retaining their signature sound, Room on Fire is fuller and louder than its predecessor.
One of the standout tracks on the album is ‘Reptilia,‘ an indie anthem that begins with a muted bassline and guitar before launching into a larger riff and drums.
An impressive guitar solo takes place just after the mid-way mark, which ties the song’s urgency together. This desperation traverses into Casablancas’ vocal delivery, which is at times strained and raw.
‘You Only Live Once’ – First Impressions of Earth (2005)
Another Raphael-produced track, alongside additional production from David Kahne (who has worked with the likes of Paul McCartney), ‘You Only Live Once’ was released as the final single from the third album First Impressions of Earth.
Whilst Casablancas shares some insight into the ever-fascinating minds of men, classic Strokes-esque guitar riffs are delivered alongside an emotive bassline that suggests, as many of the band’s tracks do, an undercurrent of nostalgia.
‘Machu Picchu’ – Angles (2011)
After the band took a hiatus for a few years, they returned in 2011 with Angles, which bassist Nikolai Fraiture described as sounding like it “should have been made between Room on Fire and First Impressions of Earth.”
‘Machu Picchu’ features a distinctive bassline and guitars that feel like the sonic equivalent of actually climbing Machu Picchu. Casablancas’ vocal style differs slightly from prior albums, occasionally bordering on falsetto that brings the dynamics of the whole song together.
’50/50′ – Comedown Machine (2013)
When The Strokes dropped Comedown Machine in 2013 with no promotion, critics were pleasantly surprised with the band’s effort, which contains a much wider span of influences present in their sound than ever before.
In contrast with their guitar-driven albums of the 2000s, Comedown Machine is synth-heavy, giving certain tracks an inescapable danceable beat, such as ‘50/50′, which bounces with energy, whilst also calling back to Is This It through Casablancas’, particularly muffled vocals.
‘Why Are Sundays So Depressing?’ – The New Abnormal (2020)
With The Strokes’ latest album The New Abnormal, the band returned to their roots and made songs that sound most like Is This It. The album was praised for being a considerably more mature release than their previous albums, in both its lyrical and sonic content.
A highlight includes ‘Why Are Sundays So Depressing?’ which oftentimes features a Lou Reed-esque vocal performance from Casablancas. The song feels like a moment of unity between the members, who faced a series of difficulties and tensions between themselves whilst making Angles and Comedown Machine.
