The Strokes have, famously, had an up-and-down career. They started on a high with Is This It, and then every album they put out after that was met with mixed-to-hostile reviews, though those records often became better liked (and even beloved) in retrospect. But when you think about their very best tracks — your top 10 faves — The Strokes suddenly seem super consistent. In that context they can stack up against any band of their generation.
In celebration of the new Reality Awaits, we need to go back and count down the greatest songs of The Strokes’ past. It’s too early to tell which of the weird and wooly tracks from Awaits might eventually make the cut. (“Gone Shopping” and “Lonely In The Future” are early contenders.) But these tunes are definitely certified bangers.
10. “You Only Live Once” (2006)
On First Impressions Of Earth, The Strokes attempted to do two seemingly opposing things — prove they could make a slick mainstream rock record and their most sophisticated and experimental music to date. With “You Only Live Once,” they achieved the former with smashing success. When it comes to delivering punchy swagger in an easily digestible, radio-friendly package, it’s hard to beat.
9. “Under Cover Of Darkness” (2011)
That is, unless we’re talking about this song, which is an even hookier rocker. Despite its reputation as a misfire borne of possibly the deepest intra-band conflicts of The Strokes’ career, Angles actually contains some of their snappiest and most likeable singles. Starting with “Under Cover Of Darkness,” which is highlighted by some excellent dual guitar work from Albert Hammond and Nick Valensi.
8. “Ode To The Mets” (2020)
The New Abnormal not only signaled an unlikely mid-career comeback, it introduced The Strokes to a new audience. But the anthemic track that closes the record has also become a fan favorite, and a popular encore choice to close concerts. “Ode To The Mets” nods to both their NYC heritage and hard-luck history, positioning The Strokes as yet another Big Apple institution that sometimes confounds, but never at the risk of severing fan loyalty.
7. “Soma” (2001)
Is This It is loaded with so many classic songs that it’s hard to single out the best from the pack. But “Soma” continues to register as a standout, both on the record and apart from Is This It as one of their most beloved deep cuts. In the context of their greater career, “Soma” also presages Julian Casablancas’ interest in social commentary, repurposing the mind-control drug from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World for a more generalized statement about interpersonal phoniness.
6. “Under Control” (2003)
On Is This It, Julian Casablancas wrote a series of songs that encapsulated the experience of being young and single in a big city at the turn of the century. For the next Strokes album Room On Fire, he had matured enough to graduate to his first love song, “Under Control,” a Motown-esque ballad with bedroom eyes that’s ultimately more of a “lust” number.
5. “Life Is Simple In The Moonlight” (2011)
Julian Casablancas did himself no favors during the promotion of Angles, essentially admitting that his creative involvement was limited. This naturally informed how the record was received at the time, though there’s evidence that parts of Angles are more personal than they might have initially appeared. That certainly seems true of “Life Is Simple In The Moonlight,” one of the prettiest and most melancholy tracks in the Strokes canon.
4. “The Adults Are Talking” (2020)
When The Strokes debuted this song in 2019, their stock was relatively low. But “The Adults Are Talking” signaled a new era for the band. Not only was it their best song in years, it showed they were capable of writing new music that both acknowledged their classic style while also sounding thoroughly contemporary. On Is This It, The Strokes sounded like a new band that felt like they had already been around for ages; on “The Adults Are Talking,” they were like a band that had already been around for ages that suddenly seemed new again.
3. “Last Nite” (2001)
When “Last Nite” hit popular culture in the early aughts, The Strokes were criticized by some for sounding overly derivative. But what critics failed to understand is that great rock bands are founded on stealing from their forefathers. The key is to perpetrate this theft with a lot of style and charisma, two properties The Strokes have always had in high supply. Heard 25 years later, “Last Nite” now seems less like a rip-off and more like a link in an ongoing chain.
2. “Reptilia” (2003)
An ongoing debate among Strokes fans concerns Room On Fire and whether the second Strokes album is actually better than Is This It. This is most apparent on the fastest and hardest rocking song from Room On Fire, the one they were already playing live before the album even dropped. Because when you have a song that kills as consistently as “Reptilia,” how can you possibly keep it under wraps?
1. “Someday” (2001)
Throughout his career, Julian Casablancas has consistently expressed ambivalence about two properties with which he is commonly associated — straight-forward rock songs and nostalgia. Which might be why “Someday” is such a refreshing change of pace. For a guy so often stuck deep in his own head, Casablancas rarely sounds as relaxed or blissed out as he does here. In retrospect, it also feels like a metaphor for The Strokes’ career.
