The problematic record of The Strokes song ‘Alone Together’
Ask any indiehead about the soundtrack to their early 2000s, and it’s guaranteed that Is This It by The Strokes will be mentioned. At the turn of the millennium, indie rock was still very much grasping the lapels of Lou Reed-esque transgressiveness, and rising stars either wanted to imitate their avant-garde predecessors or continue the experimentalist view of reaching for something completely original.
The Strokes sat somewhere in the middle of that: in 2002, the band’s producer Gordon Raphael told Sound on Sound: “I think it was Julian who said, ‘We want to sound like a band from the past that took a time trip into the future to make their record’”.
This wasn’t a new way of thinking, per se. In fact, a lot of new bands that emerged at the time were trying to do the same thing. But something about The Strokes stuck, and they propelled a new era of indie rock music, influencing several big names we still hear about today. From Arctic Monkeys to Franz Ferdinand, something about their reimagining of first-wave underground rock positioned its old endearing tendencies with a fresh new feel.
Recording the first album wasn’t all that easy, though. In fact, it was actually pretty arduous. The approach that resulted in the album’s lasting endurance encouraged improvisation and revision if something wasn’t quite right. This made for a creative and collaborative process – ones which many bands didn’t get to experience – but it also gleaned a lot of frustration and back and forth.
‘Alone Together’, the opening track on Is This It, captures the essence of the band’s sound of gritty guitars, catchy hooks, and a sense of cool nonchalance. The band’s tight interplay and cohesive sound creates a sense of urgency and excitement that became a defining characteristic of their early work. Alongside ‘Barely Legal’, ‘Last Nite’, and ‘Someday’, ‘Alone Together’ is regarded highly in terms of the quintessential Strokes sound and one which contributed to the band’s efforts in the indie rock revival.
The creative process wasn’t smooth-running, however, and it fell victim to its own process, much to lead singer Julian Casablancas’ dismay. As someone known for his perfectionism, getting his vocals just right was something that haunted him. “There was a song called ‘Alone Together’, on which we did three almost-full productions, with different methods and a different approach each time,” said Gordon in 2002, “One was to do it all live, one was to do it with the drum kit by itself, and one was to do it with a drum machine. In each case, we recorded all the tracks, built the production, and halfway through the vocals, Julian would say, ‘No, I hate the way this thing sounds!’”.
It certainly makes for an interesting new layer of listening when you revisit the track knowing that Casablancas wasn’t ever entirely happy with his vocals, but even so, its obvious rawness and authenticity were a big staple of this era’s indie music.
It’s better this way.
