{"id":1927,"date":"2026-08-05T08:23:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T08:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1927"},"modified":"2026-08-05T08:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T08:23:59","slug":"the-best-strokes-songs-ranked-uproxx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1927","title":{"rendered":"The Best Strokes Songs, Ranked \u2013 UPROXX"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/uproxx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/The-Strokes_Image-Set_710x400.jpg?w=710\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"The Best Strokes Songs, Ranked \u2013 UPROXX\" title=\"The Best Strokes Songs, Ranked \u2013 UPROXX\" \/><\/div><p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-page\" data-page=\"1\">\n<p>The Strokes have, famously, had an up-and-down career. They started on a high with <em>Is This It<\/em>, and then every album they put out after that was met with mixed-to-hostile reviews, though those records often became better liked (and even beloved) in retrospect. But when you think about their very best tracks \u2014\u00a0your top 10 faves \u2014\u00a0The Strokes suddenly seem super consistent. In that context they can stack up against any band of their generation.<\/p>\n<p>In celebration of the new <em>Reality Awaits<\/em>, we need to go back and count down the greatest songs of Strokes\u2019 past. It\u2019s too early to tell which of the weird and wooly tracks from <em>Awaits<\/em> might eventually make the cut. (\u201cGone Shopping\u201d and \u201cLonely In The Future\u201d are early contenders.) But these tunes are definitely certified bangers. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-page\" data-page=\"2\">\n<h2>10. \u201cYou Only Live Once\u201d (2006)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/pT68FS3YbQ4?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>On <em>First Impressions Of Earth<\/em>, The Strokes attempted to do two seemingly opposing things \u2014 prove they could make a slick mainstream rock record and their most sophisticated and experimental music to date. With \u201cYou Only Live Once,\u201d they achieved the former with smashing success. When it comes to delivering punchy swagger in an easily digestible, radio-friendly package, it\u2019s hard to beat.<\/p>\n<h2>9. \u201cUnder Cover Of Darkness\u201d (2011)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/_l09H-3zzgA?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>That is, unless we\u2019re talking about this song, which is an even hookier rocker. Despite its reputation as a misfire borne of possibly the deepest intra-band conflicts of The Strokes\u2019 career \u2014 the members typically describe the making of the album with various synonyms for \u201cmiserable\u201d \u2014 <em>Angles<\/em> actually contains some of their snappiest and most likeable singles. Starting with \u201cUnder Cover Of Darkness,\u201d which is highlighted by some excellent dual guitar work from Albert Hammond and Nick Valensi. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-page\" data-page=\"3\">\n<h2>8. \u201cOde To The Mets\u201d (2020)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/BjC0KUxiMhc?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>The New Abnormal <\/em>not only signaled an unlikely mid-career comeback, it introduced The Strokes to a new audience, mostly via definitively \u201cStrokes-y\u201d sounding hit \u201cThe Adults Are Talking.\u201d (More on that song in a minute.) But the anthemic track that closes the record has also become a fan favorite, and a popular encore choice to close concerts. \u201cOde To The Mets\u201d nods to both their NYC heritage and hard-luck history, positioning The Strokes as yet another Big Apple institution that sometimes confounds, but never at the risk of severing fan loyalty. <\/p>\n<h2>7. \u201cSoma\u201d (2001)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/Q94xBxvKmpo?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Is This It<\/em> is loaded with so many classic songs that it\u2019s hard to single out the best from the pack. But \u201cSoma\u201d continues to register as a standout, both on the record (where it helps to set the record\u2019s tone of magnetic insouciance) and apart from <em>Is This It<\/em> as one of their most beloved deep cuts. In the context of their greater career, \u201cSoma\u201d also presages Julian Casablancas\u2019 interest in social commentary, repurposing the mind-control drug from Aldous Huxley\u2019s <em>Brave New World<\/em> for a more generalized statement about interpersonal (as well as societal) phoniness. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-page\" data-page=\"4\">\n<h2>6. \u201cUnder Control\u201d (2003)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/xsNmRhiahKs?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>On <em>Is This It<\/em>, Casablancas wrote a series of songs that encapsulated the experience of being young and single in a big city at the turn of the century. The album can be broadly described as a collective of bad-boyfriend missives, though they\u2019re delivered with enough rakish charm to make such behavior forgivable. For the next Strokes album <em>Room On Fire<\/em>, he had matured enough to graduate to his first (sort of) love song, \u201cUnder Control,\u201d a Motown-esque ballad with bedroom eyes that\u2019s ultimately more of a \u201clust\u201d number. <\/p>\n<h2>5. \u201cLife Is Simple In The Moonlight\u201d (2011)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/1va0QR5Hhf8?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Casablancas did himself (and his band) no favors during the promotion of <em>Angles<\/em>, essentially admitting that his creative involvement was limited and his feelings about the final results mixed. This naturally informed how the record was received at the time, though there\u2019s evidence that parts of <em>Angles<\/em> are more personal than they might have initially appeared. That certainly seems true of \u201cLife Is Simple In The Moonlight,\u201d one of the prettiest and most melancholy tracks in the Strokes canon, and a highlight of their current tour. The song\u2019s defiant refrain \u2014 \u201cdon\u2019t try to stop us, get out of the way\u201d \u2014 seems like a callback to the old bravado, though the defeated air of the music communicates a different reality. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-page\" data-page=\"5\">\n<h2>4. \u201cThe Adults Are Talking\u201d (2020)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/ewOPQZZn4SY?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>When The Strokes debuted this song in 2019 at an L.A.-area concert, their stock was relatively low. It had been six years since their last album, and 2016\u2019s EP <em>Future Present Past<\/em> had been mostly ignored. But \u201cThe Adults Are Talking\u201d signaled a new era for the band. Not only was it their best song in years, it showed they were capable of writing new music that both acknowledged their classic style while also sounding thoroughly contemporary. While the opening instrumental passage recalls the wiry guitars and man-made drum-machine rhythms from \u201cHard To Explain,\u201d Casablancas wised-up vocal suggested that he was fully embracing his role as the cool older brother of contemporary rock. On <em>Is This It<\/em>, The Strokes sounded like a new band that felt like they had already been around for ages; on \u201cThe Adults Are Talking,\u201d they were like a band that had already been around for ages that suddenly seemed new again. <\/p>\n<h2>3. \u201cLast Nite\u201d (2001)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/TOypSnKFHrE?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>When \u201cLast Nite\u201d hit popular culture in the early aughts, The Strokes were criticized by some for sounding overly derivative. Specifically, they were accused of \u201cborrowing\u201d heavily from \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d by Tom Petty &amp; The Heartbreakers, a debt that Casablancas gamely acknowledged in interviews. But what critics failed to understand \u2014 though Petty, a Strokes fan, understood intuitively \u2014 is that great rock bands are founded on stealing from their forefathers. (Petty himself took a lot from The Byrds\u2019 \u201cMr. Tambourine Man\u201d for \u201cAmerican Girl.\u201d) The key is to perpetrate this theft with a lot of style and charisma, two properties The Strokes have always had in high supply. Heard 25 years later, \u201cLast Nite\u201d now seems less like a rip-off and more like a link in an ongoing chain. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-page\" data-page=\"6\">\n<h2>2. \u201cReptilia\u201d (2003)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/b8-tXG8KrWs?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>An ongoing debate among Strokes fan concerns <em>Room On Fire<\/em> and whether the second Strokes album is actually better than <em>Is This It<\/em>. The latter album is certainly more iconic, but <em>Room On Fire<\/em> has the advantage of capturing The Strokes after they had toured the world and acquired the chops that the relatively green outfit behind the debut simply didn\u2019t have. This is most apparent on the fastest and hardest rocking song from <em>Room On Fire<\/em>, the one they were already playing live before the album even dropped. Because when you have a song that kills as consistently as \u201cReptilia,\u201d how can you possibly keep it under wraps?<\/p>\n<h2>1. \u201cSomeday\u201d (2001)<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/knU9gRUWCno?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Throughout his career, Casablancas has consistently expressed ambivalence about two properties with which he is commonly associated \u2014 straight-forward rock songs and nostalgia. His artistic ambitions are bigger than the former and too uncompromising for the latter. Which might be why \u201cSomeday\u201d is such a refreshing change of pace. For a guy so often stuck deep in his own head, Casablancas rarely sounds as relaxed or blissed out as he does here, singing over a swinging backbeat about feeling in-the-moment longing for a sweet moment in your life that you can feel passing through your fingertips as it\u2019s happening. In retrospect, it also feels like a metaphor for The Strokes\u2019 career. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Strokes have, famously, had an up-and-down career. They started on a high with Is This It, and then every album they put out after that was met with mixed-to-hostile reviews, though those records often became better liked (and even beloved) in retrospect. But when you think about their very best tracks \u2014\u00a0your top 10&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/uproxx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/The-Strokes_Image-Set_710x400.jpg?w=710","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}