"Last Nite," The Strokes

It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since The Strokes released their debut album, Is This It. Though the hype was greater than its sales, Is This It made New York the epicenter of cool once again, shaping the look and sound of indie rock for the decade to come.

For all their influence on music today, The Strokes owed much to the past on the album’s second and most popular single, “Last Nite.”  The riff was nicked from Tom Petty’s 1977 song “American Girl,” and singer Julian Casablancas’ detached vocal delivery recalled early Lou Reed. 

The video, directed by Roman Coppola, was unlike most of the time – favoring a live performance over lip-synching.  Its style, as minimalist as the song’s production, suggests that The Strokes broke into an abandoned 80s television set to record their drunken performance at 4 am.  Indeed, the greatest action in the video isn’t an impromptu pyrotechnic display or dance break – it’s wondering whether Casablancas will knock over one of his bandmates or if the microphones near Fab Moretti’s drum kit will actually fall.

It was precisely this lack of polish and devil-may-care attitude that made The Strokes so appealing. They were good-looking, twenty-something New Yorkers out in search of a good time – and they provided the half-jaded, half-feel-good soundtrack to your own urban adventure, wherever you were. 

Though the group’s members have pursued solo projects in recent years, they also continue to record together.  This year saw the release of The Strokes’ fourth album, Angles, and the group has reportedly already begun recording its next album.