The Ones Who Started It All

Welcome back beauties! Today is all about the band that propelled me into indie rock music - The Strokes. Now I feel you guys should know the story behind my discovery of them first.

It all started my second year of high school and it was all because of a boy (isn’t everything you do in highschool because of a boy?). I actually don’t remember when or where I first saw him but I was hooked. I soon found out that he was new, begin a month or two into the school year and other than that I knew nothing about him other than the fact I thought he was gorgeous. Now, my friends made fun of me and subsequently gave him the nick name Edward Cullen (back when it wasn’t so cliché) because he was sharply dress for a high schooler, wore a black coat with the collar up 50% of the time, had dirty blonde hair and was pale (dead ringer eh?). Well me being me, I was very interested in finding out who he was. I don’t remember how exactly (I think my friends and I stole an attendance list or something after seeing him walk out of a certain class) but we found out his name and of course, then came the research. Now the internet is everything and because of it I was able to find out more about him thanks to trusty Facebook (don’t judge - I’m positive EVERYONE has Facebook ‘stalked’ at some point and if you haven’t you're lying). I found out he was from Russia and had just came to Canada mere months before, was a year older than me and he wasn’t that great with English (just my luck). But nevertheless, I assumed if I could figure out what he liked, some how that would spark an encounter (it never did I don’t know how I thought he would magically know I liked the same stuff he did). And during this process, I found out the type of music he liked. Now up until then I had followed the crowd and listened to what ever everyone else listened to (bubble gum pop stuff etc. whatever was popular at the time) so I had never heard of the music he liked. He was into indie rock, alternative rock, indie pop, british rock, britpop (he’s European what do you expect). So I spent the night clicking through all of his favourite bands and surprisingly I realized this stuff wasn’t half bad. And then I stumbled upon The Strokes. I remember the first song I listen to was called Reptilia and I couldn’t believe it but I loved it. I had never heard this side of music and I couldn’t believe what I had missed out on. The lyrics, the melodies, the guitars and just the general vibe lured me in. I then proceeded to become obsessed with everything The Strokes and although I never got the courage to talk to him (sad story huh) that guy was the best thing to happen (or not) to me because I was introduced to this amazing new world of music and grew a greater appreciation for actual good music and true artists. Another good thing that did come from discovering this music is that it led me to meet one of my best friends through a comment section of a live feed online of one of their concerts (don’t worry he’s not a creepy internet weirdo, he’s actually the nicest guy in the world, one of my closest friends and we’ve been friends for 3 years now, so that’s pretty amazing).

So any who they’re a group of 5 guys (3 of them met in prep school - funny huh?) and they’ve been together since 1998 with their first album being released in 2001 and have released 5 albums total. They are said to have contributed to the rising garage rock revival during that time and their first album Is This It has been on many greatest albums list (and happens to be the first vinyl record I have ever purchased). Each member has come out with their own music or been a part of other bands, with my favourites being the lead singer Julian Casablancas (such a cool name) solo career (LOVED his song 11th Dimension and his many featuring songs like Instant Crush with Daft Punk) and one of the guitarists, Albert Hammond Jr. (who’s song  Carnal Cruise and St. Justice I’m obsessed with).

My boys - then and now

Their music has pretty much changed my life and I’m crossing my fingers that they create one last album and go on tour so I can finally witness their perfection in person (they're #1 on my list of top artists to see live). To me their songs are just so powerful and have so much meaning behind them and I love that even 13 years later their music can appeal to a new generation. They really were the first stepping stone into the new and great world of music I came to discover. Oh and I can’t end this without thanking my Edward Cullen for being the reason I stumbled upon this amazing world. 

Without further ado, here is a taste of each album. 

1st album - Is This It

This is literally one of my top 10 favourite songs 

2nd album - Room On Fire 

The song that started it all (plus I kick ass when I play this on Guitar Hero)

3rd album - First Impressions of Earth

I listen to this song whenever I'm down (plus the guitar is just awesome)

*(p.s. check out You Only Live Once from this album - note this was before people made the term so cliché)

4th album - Angles

I remember waiting up until midnight to see this video premiere online
 (plus it's got like 10 Julian's so more to share)

5th album - Comedown Machine

I remember just sitting on my bed in the middle of the night when this first came out and streaming the whole thing from their site with the only light coming from the images of the band members' silhouettes

I know this may have been a long one, but they are my all time favourite band so, they deserved A LOT of love. I hope I've reeled you into my wonderful world of music.

Don't forget to check our previous post: Zit Fit!

Stay musical and stay fabulous! xoxo