The Strokes - Hard to Explain

The other day I was singing to the Strokes in my car like I do most days, but this time I stopped and existentially questioned my love for the Strokes. What MADE me like the Strokes? When did I first hear them? I knew the answer right when I asked it, but it was interesting to remember my first exposure to the band. I was in middle school in Atlanta, and my class was in the computer labs doing a creative writing exercise. I don't remember how I came across it, but I clicked on the music video for "Hard to Explain". I turned down the volume as low as I could so that only I could hear it. With my ear up to the desktop speaker, I started the song and kept an eye out to see where my teacher was at all times, so that I didn't get to watch any of the video. The song only had to have been playing for about 45 seconds before I got caught and had to turn if off, but that was all the time I needed. The opening line, "Was an honest maaaaaan" gave me chills. It was a combination of notes I've never heard before and the juxtaposition of the note he is singing with the chord that the guitar is playing had me immediately hooked. I didn't get to listen to any more than that, but when I got home that day I looked it up again and listened to every Strokes song that I could.

The Strokes are a really integral band to today's indie music scene as well as the indie music scene for the last 8 years. By listening to and looking at the Strokes, it seems that they created their own, more elegant version of punk rock from the 70's 80's. They dress like punk rockers, and incorporate similar guitar riffs, but their punk rock is easier on the ears; it's even beautiful sounding at some times. They might have been influenced some by the Ramones or Iggy Pop, but Julian doesn't howl or scream. Instead he almost croons like a less resonant Frank Sinatra. There is a slew of bands that came up right after the Strokes which were all part of new-wave punk. I remember seeing lookalikes on TV and hearing them on the radio throughout both middle school and high school. Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, the Libertines, Kings of Leon, JET, and Louis XIV are just a few of the more popular bands that had the new-wave sound. And over the years, that sound has evolved and translated into a lot of the bands I listen to today. The Black Lips, the Strange Boys, Spoon, the Walkmen are all bands that have some new-wave punk in their music. In each case though, they bring in another type of genre to pair with it, like blues and punk in the case of the Strange boys. Below is the music video for "Hard to Explain", which is a better version of Lana Del Rey's music videos of random juxtaposed images. Also are similar bands that came after the Strokes, and an example of 80's punk that may have influenced the Strokes.