‘Juicebox’: the “ugly” song that became a smash for The Strokes
Sometimes an artist has to stick to their guns. Throughout history, all the best ideas have come along with a level of doubt. Inventors have been called crazy, boundary-pushing artists have been isolated or ridiculed, and scientists have been deemed mad for pushing to prove a wild hypothesis. In any breakthrough instance, the creator has had to hold strong to their own conviction and keep the faith that something will click into place. That’s the story of The Strokes’ track, ‘Juicebox’.
The Strokes were the darlings of the 2000s New York Scene. As the leaders of the Meet Me In The Bathroom moment, with their song giving name to a whole era of indie and punk acts working away in the city, the band were the best of them. When they broke out, their hyper-catchy indie tunes made them a sensation. With songs like ‘Someday’, ‘Is This It’ and ‘Last Nite’, they captured the zeitgeist with a run of perfect rock tunes that were just the right amount edgy and experimental yet still accessible enough to hook in the masses.
In short, they were the big thing of the moment. Record labels launched into a bidding war to lock them down, music magazines buzzed over them, and their fan base grew at hyperspeed from a cult of NYC-based groupies to a global mass wanting and waiting for new music. Their first two albums kept them fed and happy, but then, while working on their third, Julian Casablancas seemingly took it a step too far.
“The first people I played ‘Juicebox’ to thought I was joking,” the singer told Clash in 2006. Written on the road during one of their early tours, absolutely no one was convinced by this strange, video game-sounding indie tune that had so much going on. That is, no one except the songwriter himself.
“It was still on tour. I was like, ‘Yeah, what do you think?’ Nick [Valensi, guitarist] was like, ‘Alright, you’re insane.’ I just liked the way the notes sounded. It was weird, and I thought it might sound a little ugly to some people, especially the first riff,” Casablancas recalled, clearly getting a kick at the shock factor of the song. To him, it was the song’s ugliness that made him love it. After putting out a selection of polished and arguably perfect indie tunes, he was clearly hungering to do something a little odd, to take a chance.
“I remember people saying this track’s ugly; I think it’s got a great personality,” he said, still sticking up for the divisive energy of ‘Juicebox’ as he added, “It’s a pretty crazy song, and is meant to be a bit schizophrenic.” It was a corner he was keen to fight and a hill he was ready to die on as he refused to drop the song. When it came to recording their third album, First Impressions of Earth, he demanded the song be given a chance. Luckily, producer David Kahne seemed to believe in it, too, working with Casablancas to bring the busy song to life.
The moral of the story is that the songwriter stood by his creation. He refused to be deterred from it or to let anyone throw it in the bin. Slowly, he convinced people, coaxing them into believing in the song, as it was chosen to be the lead single from the new album. Just as how scientists, inventors and artists throughout history have had their “told you so” moment about their own mad ideas, The Strokes singer got his too, as his “ugly” song became the band’s first and only Billboard 100 hit.
