• Julian Casablancas - vocals
• Nick Valensi - guitar
• Albert Hammond Jnr. - guitar
• Nikolai Fraiture - bass
• Fabrizio Moretti - drums

The Strokes were formed in 1998 when five friends decided to get a band together and play the clubs of New York. Sounding like a mixture of the 70's and 80's melded together in a decadently cool downtown music hall they soon attracted the attention of Ryan Gentles, booker of New York venue, The Mecury Lounge.

Producer, Gordon Raphael, helped them record their first demo, 'The Modern Age', which was picked up by UK label Rough Trade.

Since then The Strokes have just climbed higher and higher up the music industry's trouser leg, refusing to be ignored. They played sold out shows with the Doves and Guided by Voices and started recording their debut album before signing a record deal with RCA.

The album, Is This It, was released in September 2001 and was met with much acclaim from the music press and the general public. The single, 'Hard to Explain'/'New York City Cops', reached number sixteen in the UK Top 40 and The Strokes embarked on a sixteen date sold out UK tour.

Last year in many television programmes and music magazines Is This It was hailed as one of, if not, the album of 2001.

With their shaggy hair, skinny ties and drainpipe jeans, The Strokes have been labelled fashion icons and the kings of cool across the world and with plans for a follow up album it looks like The Strokes are going from stength to strength.

Releases

• Heart in a Cage - single, out 20/03/2006 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)
• First Impressions Of Earth - album, out 02/01/2006 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)
• Reptilia - single, out 09/02/2004 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)
• Reptilia - single, out 19/01/2004 on Rough Trade. (post review)
• Room On Fire - album, out 20/10/2003 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)
• 12:51 - single, out 06/10/2003 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)
• Is This It - single, out 04/10/2002 on Rough Trade. (post review)
• Someday - single, out 23/09/2002 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)
• Someday - single, out 16/09/2002 on Rough Trade. (post review)
• Hard to Explain - single, out 08/04/2002 on Rough Trade. (post review)
• Last Nite - single, out 05/11/2001. 1 review (read/post)
• Is This It - album, out 03/09/2001 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)
• Hard To Explain - single, out 25/06/2001 on Rough Trade. 1 review (read/post)

Past events

• Festival Internacional de Benicassim, Thu 20 Jul at Spain Benicassim. 1 review (read/post)
• Wireless Festival, Wed 21 Jun at London Hyde Park. (post review)
• Sat 18 Feb at London Hammersmith Apollo. (post review)
• Fri 17 Feb at London Hammersmith Apollo. (post review)
• Sat 04 Feb at Portsmouth Guildhall. (post review)
• Fri 03 Feb at Brighton Centre. (post review)
• Tue 24 Jan at London Shepherds Bush Empire. 1 review (read/post)
• Tue 29 Nov at London ULU. 1 review (read/post)
• Fri 05 Dec at London Alexandra Palace. 1 review (read/post)
• Fri 22 Jun at Manchester Academy 3 (formerly Hop & Grape). 1 review (read/post)

News

• 10/07/2008: 2009 or bust: a new Strokes record pencilled in for next year
• 18/06/2008: Stroking up: Pharrell begs Julian Casablancas for Strokes production role
• 09/06/2008: Listen: Santogold, Julian Casablancas, Pharrell collaborate for Converse
• 16/05/2008: Sneakers pimped: Pharrell, The Strokes and Santogold record track for Converse
• 23/04/2008: New album? The Strokes are showing signs of life
• 27/11/2007: Watch: never seen before footage of the Strokes
• 01/08/2007: Beggars are choosers; snaps up Rough Trade records
• 06/07/2007: Ireland's Oxegen Festival filling out
• 06/07/2007: Wireless Festival takes shape: UPDATE!
• 06/07/2007: V Festival Essex shifts its camping tickets

Features

• 30/01/2008: The Weekly DiScussion: celebrating our Gateway Acts
• 05/12/2007: The Weekly DiScussion: just what is a 'DiS band'?
• 06/07/2007: Carling Weekender: Main Stage Reviews
• 06/07/2007: Raz on The Raz @ Reading
• 06/07/2007: The Reading Report part 2
• 19/12/2006: If Santa strapped on a Flying V...
• 25/10/2006: Our 66: 20 that missed the cut
• 05/09/2003: Releases Coming Soon...
• 15/01/2002: DiS Album of the year? you must be joking! - The Best of 2001
• 28/09/2001: My Desk. Your Future. 30 reviews.

Links

• The Strokes - fansite
• The Strokes - official merchandise from swagshop.com
• The Strokes - official site

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