Is This It by The Strokes — The Garage Rock Revival Starts Here

Released on July 30, 2001 (international) and October 9, 2001 (US), Is This It by The Strokes arrived like a bolt of lightning at a moment when rock music desperately needed one. The debut album from five well-dressed New Yorkers combined the raw energy of late-1970s punk with the melodic sensibility of power pop, and in doing so kicked off the garage rock revival that would dominate the first half of the 2000s.

The Moment

By 2001, mainstream rock had calcified. Nu-metal bands like Limp Bizkit and post-grunge acts like Creed dominated radio and MTV. The alternative era of the early 1990s felt distant. Into this void walked The Strokes — Julian Casablancas (vocals), Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. (guitars), Nikolai Fraiture (bass), and Fabrizio Moretti (drums) — with a sound that recalled Television, The Velvet Underground, and The Cars but felt entirely contemporary.

The band’s reputation preceded the album. A three-song EP called The Modern Age had generated enormous buzz in the UK music press, with NME championing them as saviors of rock and roll months before the album appeared. The hype was enormous, arguably unsustainable — and yet Is This It delivered.

The Sound

Producer Gordon Raphael recorded the album at Transporterraum, a small Manhattan studio. The production is deliberately lo-fi — Casablancas’s vocals were run through a guitar amp to achieve their characteristic compressed, distant quality. The guitars are thin and jagged rather than thick and heavy, the bass is prominent in the mix, and the drums are dry and tight.

This stripped-down aesthetic was a conscious rejection of the era’s overproduced rock. Everything on Is This It sounds like it could be performed live by five people with no backing tracks, and the album’s energy suggests a band tearing through their set at a packed club.

Track by Track

“Is This It” opens with Fraiture’s wandering bass line before the full band enters. Casablancas sings with affected nonchalance about romantic disappointment, his voice conveying the studied cool that became the band’s signature.

“The Modern Age” re-recorded from the EP, drives forward on interlocking guitar lines from Valensi and Hammond Jr. The two-guitar interplay is the album’s secret weapon — they complement rather than compete, creating a fuller sound than the lo-fi production might suggest.

“Someday” is the album’s poppiest moment and its most enduring song. The verse is pure Velvet Underground jangle, but the chorus opens up into something genuinely anthemic. It is a near-perfect pop-rock song.

“Last Nite” borrows its guitar riff from Tom Petty’s “American Girl” (a debt the band has acknowledged) and turns it into a two-minute blast of frustrated energy. The song became a ubiquitous radio hit and remains The Strokes’ most recognizable track.

“Hard to Explain” demonstrates the band’s range within their chosen parameters. The verse melody is unusually complex for a garage rock song, and the arrangement shifts between restraint and release with impressive control.

“New York City Cops” was removed from the US release following the September 11 attacks (replaced by “When It Started”) but remains one of the album’s strongest tracks. Its confrontational chorus and driving rhythm capture the band’s punk-influenced energy at its peak.

“Trying Your Luck” closes the album with uncharacteristic vulnerability. Casablancas drops the cool affect and sings with genuine ache over a gentle guitar figure. It hints at emotional depths that the band’s image often obscured.

Cultural Impact

Is This It did not just revive garage rock — it revived the idea that rock music could be culturally relevant. The Strokes’ success opened doors for a wave of guitar bands: The White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, The Libertines, and Arctic Monkeys all benefited from the renewed appetite for raw, guitar-driven music.

The album also reshaped rock aesthetics. The Strokes’ visual style — leather jackets, Converse sneakers, shaggy hair — became the indie uniform of the early 2000s. Their connection to New York’s Lower East Side revitalized the city’s rock mythology after years of being overshadowed by hip-hop.

For a broader look at the garage rock explosion, see our guide to essential indie rock albums and the history of indie and alternative music.

How It Holds Up

More than two decades later, Is This It sounds remarkably fresh. Its brevity (just under 37 minutes) and efficiency are assets — there is no filler, no self-indulgence, no wasted moment. The melodies are strong enough to survive the lo-fi production, and the performances capture a band at the peak of youthful energy.

The Strokes went on to make more ambitious albums — Room on Fire (2003) refined the formula, First Impressions of Earth (2006) expanded it, and The New Abnormal (2020) earned them a Grammy — but Is This It remains their definitive statement. It captured a specific moment with such precision that it transcended that moment entirely.

Key Takeaways

• Is This It reignited guitar rock at a moment when the genre had stagnated under nu-metal and post-grunge
• The deliberately lo-fi production by Gordon Raphael gave the album a raw, immediate quality that contrasted sharply with mainstream rock
• The two-guitar interplay of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. is the album’s musical foundation
• Its cultural impact extended beyond music to fashion, aesthetics, and the geography of cool

Rating: 9/10

The definitive debut of the garage rock revival. Is This It reminded the world that rock and roll could be simple, smart, and thrilling all at once.