The Strokes Aren’t an Issue, They're The Issue

There has been so much talk concerning this generation’s music and how it influences the entire music industry; it is boring, too simple, or soulless. Discussed briefly in one of my economic classes, a fascinating argument took place about how one band, The Strokes, and the music produced by them (with the exception of their first album) was dull, daft, and non derived. I was the odd duck proudly defending the belief that The Strokes are, without a doubt, the most influential band of the past decade.

Few bands had more hype before hitting the music scene back in 2001; everyone knew who they were and assumed they were going to enjoy Is This It months before they knew what genre The Strokes would fall under in their iTunes library. When their first album hit the shelves, their sound instantly bore the “iconic” badge. Quick paced guitar riffs and melancholic vocals sprinkled with complimenting drum solos, this band knew how to influence a generation wanting something different. Music changed, assumptions changed, and generations changed and all because one band was simply playing music. Virtually all bands that sprung up in the past nine years have The Strokes near their music pedigree’s beginning. A band like that is not group of individuals getting together to rock, they are revolutionaries.

While noting their recent two albums haven’t been as groundbreaking as their first, no band, besides The Beatles, has ever put out back-to-back-to-back albums that changed music (but having their band compared to The Beatles is a huge statement in itself). Also noted was how The Strokes seemed to strip everything but the basic rock and roll sound out of their music. “The music of the future uses futuristic technology,” one student was quoted saying. But that is the reason why this band has been so influential/ They stripped the genre down to the bones and played, letting everything great about the indie scene be exposed for what it really is — real music from real people for everyone. The Strokes are the most influential band the world has seen in the past decade.