Why These Artists?
Is This It arrived in 2001 like a slap to the face of a music world sleepwalking through post-Napster torpor. The Strokes made rock music that sounded old and new simultaneously, CBGB lineage, Television guitar interplay, Lou Reed New York cool.
The Strokes brought together a specific set of New York reference points and reassembled them with a garage-pop urgency that influenced a generation of guitar bands. The artists below either share those influences or responded directly to the Strokes.
Artists Like The Strokes
The Libertines were the British answer to The Strokes. Up the Bracket has the same loose, urgent energy filtered through English literary romanticism.
Can\'t Stand Me NowInterpol shared the Strokes\' New York scene and their love of post-punk. Turn On the Bright Lights is one of the great post-punk revival albums.
Obstacle 1Arctic Monkeys are the direct heirs to The Strokes in British indie rock, the same angular guitar work and effortless cool translated into a Sheffield context.
I Bet You Look Good on the DancefloorTelevision invented the guitar interplay that The Strokes inherited. Marquee Moon is the most important New York art-rock record ever made.
Marquee MoonThe Yeah Yeah Yeahs were the other great New York guitar band of 2003. Fever to Tell has a rawness and emotional intensity that the Strokes albums lack.
MapsFranz Ferdinand brought the post-punk guitar revival to Scotland and the dancefloor simultaneously. Their debut is as sharp and urgent as Is This It.
Take Me OutThe Vaccines arrived in 2011 as a reminder that three-minute guitar pop still had plenty of life. What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? is relentlessly good.
Wreckin\' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)Julian Casablancas is essentially Lou Reed updated for the 21st century, the same New York cool, the same half-spoken vocal style.
Walk on the Wild SideParquet Courts make brainy, abrasive New York post-punk with the same angular guitars and New York specificity as The Strokes, pushed into weirder directions.
Human PerformanceFontaines DC are the most important guitar band to emerge in the 2020s. Dogrel and A Hero\'s Death form a remarkable debut pair building on the Strokes foundation.
Boys in the Better LandSpoon have made more consistently good albums than almost any other guitar band of their era. Girls Can Tell and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga are the place to start.
The Way We Get ByFrequently Asked Questions
Who are the best artists similar to The Strokes?
The most direct comparisons are The Libertines, Interpol, and Arctic Monkeys. For the CBGB lineage, go to Television and The Velvet Underground. For the post-punk revival, try Franz Ferdinand and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
What is The Strokes\' best album?
Is This It (2001) is almost universally considered their masterpiece. Room on Fire is a very close second. The New Abnormal (2020) was a welcome late-career return to form.
Are The Strokes still active?
Yes, The Strokes released The New Abnormal in 2020 and continue to tour. Follow them on MyFavoriteBands for tour announcements.
More Discovery Guides
More artist discovery guides:
Track The Strokes on MyFavoriteBands
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