Let me start by saying that I've been a fan of The Strokes since their debut Is This It? At one point in my life, I would have called them my favorite band. But a lot has changed in the 25 years since the New York rockers debuted. So much so that I have recently questioned if they are still a “good” band.
Before we dive into that hot take let’s go back in time to set the scene on what made The Strokes the biggest group on the planet.
Butt rockers and a garage rock revival
The year was 2001. Pre-9/11 rock was dull. Butt rockers — think hard rockers like Three Days Grace, Puddle of Mud, Anberlin or Shinedown — were ruling the charts. It was not a good time to be a fan of rock music. But that was all about to change.
The Strokes brought on a garage rock revival pretty much overnight with the release of their debut Is This It? in October 2001. The album simultaneously introduced the world to The Strokes and proved that rock could sound important and be "cool" again, in the process relegating butt rockers to hard rock stations. The Strokes, along with The White Stripes (who were technically already on the scene with their 1999 self-titled debut), ushered in a whole explosion of garage rock bands, including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Hives and Interpol.
It's not an understatement to say that their early influence in the revival of rock more or less cemented The Strokes as one of the most important bands of the last 25 years. As evidence, consider this: Less than a year after their debut release, The Strokes had one of the biggest label bidding wars of all time. It's crazy to think that the music industry would risk it all on a group crafting lo-fi garage rock when the biggest song of 2001 was "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse!
The Strokes stayed strong with their follow-up 2003 record Room on Fire, which had the excellent tracks “Reptillia,” “12:51,” and “Meet Me in The Bathroom.” “Reptillia” even went on to get tons of love in Guitar Hero, and has more or less become a classic 2000s rock track.
After Room on Fire came what I would call the last great Strokes album, First Impressions of Earth. It's a very solid rock record that gave the world “You Only Live Once,” “Juicebox,” and “Heart in a Cage.” It proved that three albums in the band still had it, and they were still worth caring about.
To this point, the band had released several great songs and no real lemons in their three albums, seemingly proving they had staying power. But what happened next made me question everything about my love for The Strokes.
Enter the weirdness
Let's face it: Bands need to evolve. If they don’t they just keep making the same music or end up breaking up. Some groups have done this better than others. Radiohead immediately comes to mind as a master of evolution. You can say the same with Bjork, The Beatles, The Smashing Pumpkins and even newer bands like Fontaines D.C.
Unfortunately, The Strokes are not good at reinvention.
After a hiatus and breakup rumors The Strokes returned with 2011's Angles, which was an attempt to go '80s. Unfortunately, they produced a mediocre album that was delivered to a fanbase with incredibly high expectations. I’ve listened to this record many times since its release, giving it chance after chance to grow on me, and I still don’t like it. It ultimately was a sidestep from their established sound and it just didn’t work. Take lead single “Under Cover of Darkness.” Sure, it sounds like The Strokes enough, but it's lackluster and has an almost purposefully bad guitar solo. It felt phoned in.
Next up was 2013's Comedown Machine, which was another misstep. However, unlike Angles and its halfhearted attempts, with Comedown Machine the band tries a lot of different things. That's not necessarily bad, but on this album it came off as unfocused and felt like a band still struggling to gel back together. Age has been a little kinder to Comedown Machine though. Most fans now consider it an experimentation album from the band. Listen to album closer “Call It Fate, Call It Karma” and you'll hear The Strokes at arguably their most outside-the-box sound.
Return to form
2020 was a weird year for just about everyone. What was not on the bingo card for that year was a Strokes comeback album. The New Abnormal was a welcome surprise from The Strokes — and it only took seven years to get it!
The record offered a fresher sound while staying true to The Strokes' original vibe. Tracks like “The Adults are Talking” and “Bad Decisions” (even though that one sounds a bit like Modern English’s “I Melt with You”) are easily some of the best tracks the band has ever done — they're right up there with the classics. The album proved the band still had gas in the tank, and for fans it was like returning to the glory days of Is This It?
The New Abnormal got me back on board with The Strokes, even though I'd also had several weird and disappointing moments with the band in real life, if you'll let me elaborate.
The Strokes' live shows
I attended Bonnaroo in 2011, and what band was I most excited to see? The Strokes. But the set was a real letdown. The band played a disappointgly short set: they showed up 15-20 minutes late and finished earlier than their scheduled end time! The worst thing though was that Julien Casablancas seemed more excited to have film director John Waters watching from the side of the stage than to be performing for a massive audience. They also sounded meh.
Fast forward to 2019 and now I’m side stage watching The Strokes in Lima, Peru of all places! Once again the band sounded meh, and this time Casablancas kept forgetting the words to several songs. Having seen a bad show in 2011, and with the band in the midst of their albums four and five failures I shrugged it off, let go of The Strokes, and moved on with my life.
Skip to 2023 and I’m taking photos of The Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Minneapolis with — you guessed it! The Strokes as the opening band. This time I was prepared for whatever they offered, which again wasn’t much. I had to shoot their set from one side of the photo pit without moving (an odd requirement that has thankfully not happened again). Openers have a lot of pressure on them getting the crowd ready for the main act. Did The Strokes get me pumped up for The Red Hot Chili Peppers? No. They made me feel weird. It was another lackluster performance that hadn't evolved much at all in over 10 years.
The Strokes are not a good live band. I’m sure some people will disagree, but I'm okay saying that — I've seen them three times and each show was underwhelming.
"Going Shopping" and the future
Now it’s 2026 and The Strokes have released their latest single “Going Shopping,” off their unreleased seventh album Reality Awaits. We're currently playing this track in heavy rotation here at Studio One.
Do I personally like it? No. In my opinion it’s a step back for the band, harkening to the days of Angles and Comedown Machine. Why the auto-tune? Why the almost AI looking single cover? Are they trying to take advantage of the Millennial music nostalgia that's driven a 2000s rock and punk revival? It makes me worry that yet again the band is phoning it in.
But, weird new single or no, people love The Strokes, and (yet again) anticipation for this new record is high. So, like other disappointed but still supportive fans, I have hope that the album will be good. Plus, there's at least one hopeful sign that the band has evolved in a good way and there's more to enjoy on their forthcoming album.
The Strokes played this year's Coachella to a huge crowd, where they took a rare political stance and played video footage denouncing decades of U.S imperialism. This was a pretty ballsy move for a band that has long avoided any commentary on current events, and in my opinion it worked in The Strokes' favor. Unlike the shows I've seen live, this show did not seemed phoned in, but rather a genuine portrayal of frustration with the United States — and they did it at Coachella, of all places! Pretty badass and a welcome change for The Strokes.
That doesn't answer my question though: Are The Strokes still a good band?
I want to say yes, but "it's hard to explain."