The Strokes 148546 225880056 2008-07-15T20:53:59Z 88.106.191.212 /* First Impressions of Earth: 2005-2008 */ {{otheruses2|Stroke}} {{Infobox musical artist | Name = The Strokes | Img = TheStrokes.jpg | Img_capt = The Strokes performing [[Juicebox (song)|Juicebox]] in March 2006 | Landscape = yes | Background = group_or_band | Origin = [[New York City]], [[United States|USA]] | Genre = [[Alternative rock]]<br />[[Garage rock#Revival|Garage rock revival]] (early records)<br />[[Lo-fi music|Lo-fi]] (early records)<br />[[Indie rock]]<br />[[Post-punk revival]] | Years_active = 1998–Present | Label = [[Sony BMG]]<br>[[RCA Records|RCA]]<br>[[Rough Trade Records|Rough Trade]] | URL = [http://thestrokes.com/ thestrokes.com] | Current_members = [[Julian Casablancas]]<br/> [[Nick Valensi]]<br/> [[Albert Hammond Jr]]<br/> [[Nikolai Fraiture]]<br/>[[Fabrizio Moretti]] | Past_members = }} '''The Strokes''' are an [[United States|American]] [[ indie rock music|rock]] band formed in 1998 in [[New York City]] that rose to fame in the early 2000s as a leading group in the [[garage rock]] [[garage rock revival|revival]]. The band consists of [[Julian Casablancas]] ([[lead vocals]], [[songwriting]]), [[Nick Valensi]] ([[lead guitar]]), [[Albert Hammond Jr.]] ([[rhythm guitar]]), [[Nikolai Fraiture]] ([[bass guitar]]) and [[Fabrizio Moretti]] ([[drums]] and [[percussion]]). Upon the release of their debut album ''[[Is This It]]'' in 2001, the group was met with much critical acclaim, being hailed by some as the "saviors of rock and roll." <ref>[http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/thestrokes.html The Strokes at Infoplease.com]</ref> [[NME]] made ''Is This It'' their Album of the Year. Since then, the band has maintained a large fan base, notably in the UK, US and Australia. Exhausted from almost nonstop recording and they have been on an unofficial hiatus since 2006's [[First Impressions of Earth]], during which several of its members, most notably [[Albert Hammond Jr.]], have embarked on a variety of side projects, from music to film. The band, however, announced in mid-2008 that they were set to work on a new album in 2009. ==History== ===Beginnings and ''The Modern Age EP'': 1998-2001=== Lead [[singer-songwriter]] [[Julian Casablancas]], [[guitarist]] [[Nick Valensi]], and [[drummer]] [[Fab Moretti]] started playing together while attending [[Dwight School]] in [[Manhattan]]. [[Bassist]] [[Nikolai Fraiture]] had been friends with Casablancas and was attending the [[LFNY|Lycée Français de New York]]. At age 13, Casablancas was sent to [[Institut Le Rosey|Le Rosey]], a boarding school in [[Switzerland]] to resolve his drinking problems and improve his academic performance. In [[Switzerland]], Casablancas met [[guitarist]] [[Albert Hammond, Jr.]]. Later, when Hammond came to New York to attend [[New York University|New York University's]] [[Tisch School of the Arts]], he shared an apartment with Casablancas. They started a band which performed on the [[Lower East Side]] of New York, and at Manhattan's popular [[Mercury Lounge]]. [[Ryan Gentles]], the Mercury Lounge's booker, quit his job to become the band's manager. The band began rehearsing a twelve song set which included "[[Last Nite]]", "[[The Modern Age]]", "This Life" (an early version of "Trying Your Luck"), "[[New York City Cops]]", "Soma" and "[[Someday (The Strokes song)|Someday]]". Most of these songs now feature different [[lyrics]]. Their first release was via UK website [[NME.COM]] who gave away a free mp3 download of ''[[Last Nite]]'' a week prior to physical release as part of ''[[The Modern Age EP|The Modern Age]]'' [[EP (format)|EP]] in 2001. The EP sparked a bidding war among [[record label]]s; the largest for a rock and roll band in years.<ref name="MTV">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtve.com/article.php?ArticleId=4690|title=The Strokes: "We Just Do Our Own Thing"|accessdate=2007-01-23|year=2001|author=Joe D'Angelo}}</ref> The Strokes became the subject of enormous hype, causing a great divide among rock fans. [[Last Nite]] became the theme song for [[Australian]] department store chain [[Kmart]]. ===''Is This It'': 2001-2003=== The Strokes released their debut album ''[[Is This It]]'' in the US in October 2001 on [[RCA]] after some delay due to changes made from the UK-released version (released 27th August 2001). The cover of the latter features a [[black-and-white]] photo of a gloved hand on a woman's naked backside, shown in semi-profile, and is said to reference [[Spinal Tap]]'s fictitious ''[[Smell the Glove]]''. The naked model on the cover was photographer Colin Lane's girlfriend at the time. The North American version replaces this with an image of particle collisions taken from a [[bubble chamber]] consisting of a curious blue and anzac and replaced the song "New York City Cops" with "When It Started". The replacement of "New York City Cops", which contains the refrain "New York City Cops, they ain't too smart", was made in good faith following the [[September 11 attacks]]. The melodic [[garage rock]] sound of [[Is This It]] received positive reviews from both mainstream and independent publications, including 4 stars from ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', and a 9.1 from [[Pitchfork Media]]; it made many critics' top 10 lists, and was named the best album of the year by ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' and ''[[TIME]]''. ''[[NME]]'', in an article previewing summer concerts, urged readers to attend their shows, claiming that the band was touring on the strength of some of the "best pop songs ever". The influence of 1970s [[CBGB]] stalwarts [[Television (band)|Television]] was noted by many reviewers, although The Strokes themselves have stated that they are not fans of the band. {{Fact|date=May 2008}} After the release of ''Is This It'', the band toured around the world, featuring dates in [[Japan]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Europe]], and [[North America]] staging for the [[Rolling Stones]]. The band headlined UK's [[Carling Weekend]] festivals in 2002, largely chronicled by a relatively hard-to-find mini-documentary entitled "In Transit" which was released to members of the now-defunct "Alone, Together" fan club. In August 2002, the band played at New York's [[Radio City Music Hall]] on a bill with [[The White Stripes]]. [[Jack White (musician)|Jack White]] joined the Strokes on stage to perform the guitar solo on "New York City Cops". During that period, the band also appeared as musical guests on various late-night talk shows. ''Is This It'' yielded several singles and music videos, all of which were directed by [[Roman Coppola]]. The group began recording their follow-up in 2002 with producer [[Nigel Godrich]] (best known for his work with [[Radiohead]]), but later split with him in favor of Gordon Raphael, the producer of ''Is This It''. Recordings with Godrich were never revealed. In August 2003, the band toured Japan, playing a couple of the upcoming songs: "Reptilia", "Meet Me In The Bathroom", "The Way It Is", "Between Love & Hate" (formerly known as "Ze Newie") and "[[12:51]]" (formerly known as "Supernova"). The band also played [[Paul Anka]]'s "My Way" with Japanese lyrics. As of 2007, ''Is This It'' has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. ===''Room on Fire'': 2003-2005=== They released their second album ''[[Room on Fire]]'' in October 2003, to good reviews, but to less success commercially, although it still went gold. The album's sound maintained the Strokes' familiar reference points, while also evoking groups such as [[The Cars]], [[Bob Marley]], and [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]]. In the process, they made the cover of [[Spin Magazine]] for the second time, with each member receiving his own cover. They also made the cover of [[Rolling Stone]] for the first time. Additional media coverage of the band came from the relationship between Moretti and actress [[Drew Barrymore]], which ended in January 2007. The first single taken from ''Room on Fire'' was the song "12:51", which used distinct keyboard-like sounds produced by Valensi's guitar. The video was also directed by Roman Coppola, and was inspired by the futuristic look of the 1980s film ''[[Tron (film)|Tron]]''. This consisted of a mainly black scene, with instances of glowing picton blue and riptide. In November 2003, The Strokes played on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', performing "[[Reptilia (song)|Reptilia]]", "What Ever Happened", "Under Control" and "I Can't Win". During the 2003/2004 "''Room on Fire'' Tour", the band played with [[Kings of Leon]] as support act and [[Regina Spektor]]. While on tour, Spektor and the Strokes recorded the song "[[Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men]]", released as a B-side on the "Reptilia" single. Also during the tour, the band included [[The Clash]]'s "Clampdown" as a cover, which was released as the B-side for ''[[The End Has No End]]''. <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:NMEOctober1st2005.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Cover of ''NME'' October 1, 2005]] -->In late 2004, The Strokes revealed plans to release a live album. The ''[[Live in London (The Strokes)|Live in London]]'' LP was planned for release in October 2004, but was abandoned, reportedly due to recording quality problems. The chosen gig was one held at the legendary [[Alexandra Palace]] in North London. In February 2005, Julian Casablancas wed long-time friend and assistant band manager [[Juliet Casablancas|Juliet Joslin]]. The Strokes had a three-concert South American tour in October 2005, with dates in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. ===''First Impressions of Earth'': 2005-2008=== In late September 2005, "[[Juicebox (song)|Juicebox]]", the first single from The Strokes then unreleased third album, was leaked online, forcing the single's release date to be advanced. The single was then released as an exclusive on online download services. "Juicebox" became The Strokes' second UK Top 10 hit, as well as their second US Modern Rock Top 10 success. During November and December 2005 the Strokes did a promotional tour for the still unreleased album, which involved doing one-off shows in major cities around the world. Their third album, ''[[First Impressions of Earth]]'', was released in January 2006 to mixed reviews and debuted at number four in the US and number one in the UK, a first for the band. In Japan it went gold within the first week of release. It was also the most downloaded album for two weeks on [[ITunes Store|iTunes]]. Fraiture claimed that the album was "like a scientific breakthrough".<ref name="Scientific">{{Cite web|url=http://cornellsun.com/index.php?q=node/18297|title=Chatting With The Strokes|accessdate=2007-11-23|publisher=The Cornell Daily Sun|year=2006|author=Lieberman, Jonny and Singer, Elliot}}</ref> In January 2006, the band then made their second appearance on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' playing "Juicebox" and "[[You Only Live Once (song)|You Only Live Once]]". The album was somewhat a departure from the band's two previous albums. One reason for this was a switch of producers from Gordon Raphael ([[Is This It?]],[[Room on Fire]]) to famed [[Radiohead]] producer [[Nigel Godrich]]. While the album may have been more comerically successful, it was less critically sucessful than the first two albums (especially the first). In 2006, the band played 18 sold-out shows during their UK tour. In February 2006, The Strokes won "Best International Band" at the [[NME Awards]]. In March, the band returned to the US with their longest tour yet. The second single off ''First Impressions of Earth'', "Heart in a Cage", was released in March 2006. During the summer of 2006, The Strokes played several festival dates in Europe, including the [[Hultsfred Festival]] in Sweden, [[Roskilde Festival]] in Denmark, the [[Oxegen]] Festival in Ireland (during this concert they were to be followed by [[The Who]] but due to the overwhelming reaction of the crowd they ended up staying on longer than scheduled), the [[Montreux Jazz Festival]] in [[Switzerland]], the FIB ([[Festival Internacional de Benicàssim]]) in Benicàssim (Spain) and [[Fuji Rock Festival]] in Japan. They then toured Australia and Mexico in late August and early September, followed by the second leg of the United States tour. While in the US, The Strokes opened for [[Tom Petty|Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers]] for five shows during their Highway Companion tour. The Strokes went on to complete another US tour. During this final tour Casablancas stated to fans that the band would be taking an extensive break after it finished. An e-mail was sent out soon afterwards by Strokes manager Ryan Gentles, confirming that a "much needed break" would be taken. A new band website went online in May 2007 along with the release of an alternate video to their single "[[You Only Live Once (song)|You Only Live Once]]" directed by Warren Fu. The video also featured a brief interlude with "[[Ize of the World]]", also from "[[First Impressions of Earth]]". In late 2007, the song "You Talk Way Too Much" was used in a commercial for the [[Ford Sync]]. Aleks Cisneros became the Strokes new assistant manager in late 2007. The Strokes have annouced that they are currently planning to release their fourth studio album and follow up to "First Impressions of Earth" in 2009.".<ref name="Gigwise">{{Cite web|url=http://www.gigwise.com/news/44382/the-strokes-to-meet-up-to-discuss-making-new-album|title=The Strokes Meet Up To Discuss Making New Album|accessdate=2008-7-11|publisher=Gigwise|year=2008|author=Gregory, Jason}}</ref> ==Discography== {{main|The Strokes discography}} ===Studio albums=== *''[[Is This It]]'' (2001) *''[[Room on Fire]]'' (2003) *''[[First Impressions of Earth]]'' (2006) ==Awards and nominations== <big>'''2002'''</big> ;'''Won''' *[[ASCAP Pop Awards]] – College Vanguard Award *[[BRIT Awards]] – Best International Band *[[Meteor Ireland Music Awards]] – Best International Album (''[[Is This It]]'') *[[NME Awards]] – Best Album (''[[Is This It]]''), Band of the Year, Best New Act ;'''Nominated''' *[[MTV Video Music Awards]] – MTV2 Award (''[[Last Nite]]'') *[[MTV Video Music Awards]] - MTV2 Award (''[[Sam Mason Bell]]'') *[[MTV Europe Music Awards]] – Best New Act *[[Q Awards]] – Best Live Act <big>'''2003'''</big> ;'''Nominated''' *[[NME Awards]] – Best International Band <big>'''2006'''</big> ;'''Won''' *[[NME Awards]] – Best International Band '''Nominated''' *[[MTV Europe Music Awards]] – Best Rock Band <big>'''2007'''</big> ;'''Nominated''' *[[NME Awards]] – Best International Band ==Samples== {{multi-listen start}} {{multi-listen item|filename=Last Nite.ogg|title="Last Nite"|description=from ''[[Is This It]]''|format=[[Ogg]]}} {{multi-listen item|filename=The End Has No End.ogg|title="The End Has No End"|description=from ''[[Room on Fire]]''|format=[[Ogg]]}} {{multi-listen end}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.thestrokes.com The Strokes Official Website] *{{myspace|TheStrokes}} {{The Strokes}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Strokes, The}} [[Category:The Strokes| ]] [[Category:Musical groups established in 1998]] [[Category:2000s music groups]] [[Category:American indie rock groups]] [[Category:Rough Trade Records artists]] [[Category:New York musical groups]] [[ca:The Strokes]] [[cs:The Strokes]] [[da:The Strokes]] [[de:The Strokes]] [[es:The Strokes]] [[eu:The Strokes]] [[fr:The Strokes]] [[gl:The Strokes]] [[ko:스트록스]] [[it:The Strokes]] [[he:הסטרוקס]] [[hu:The Strokes]] [[la:The Strokes]] [[ms:The Strokes]] [[nl:The Strokes]] [[ja:ザ・ストロークス]] [[no:The Strokes]] [[pl:The Strokes]] [[pt:The Strokes]] [[ru:The Strokes]] [[fi:The Strokes]] [[simple:The Strokes]] [[sv:The Strokes]] [[bug:The Strokes]] [[zh:鼓擊樂團]]