If you were around in 2001, you remember the leather jackets. You remember the Converse. Most of all, you remember that jagged, interlocking guitar interplay that made Is This It feel like a lightning strike.
It changed everything.
Finding artists like The Strokes isn't just about finding guys who own vintage amps and look like they haven't slept in three days. It’s about a specific kind of "cool" that’s actually incredibly difficult to manufacture. It's that tension between Julian Casablancas’s bored, melodic drawl and the tight, mechanical precision of Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi’s guitars.
A lot of bands try. Most fail.
They get the distortion right, but they miss the soul. Or they get the fashion right, but the songwriting is thin. If you’re looking for that specific itch—that "Upper West Side kids playing Velvet Underground covers in a basement" vibe—you have to look at the bands who were there, the ones who came after, and the ones currently keeping the garage rock revival on life support in the best way possible.
The Immediate Circle: The New York Scene and Beyond
You can't talk about Julian and the boys without talking about The Libertines. While The Strokes were polished and rhythmic, Pete Doherty and Carl Barât were a chaotic mess of British romanticism. They’re the messy cousin. If The Strokes are a well-tailored suit, The Libertines are a suit found in a dumpster behind a pub in London.
Songs like "Time for Heroes" or "Can't Stand Me Now" hit that same "two guitars fighting each other" sweet spot. It’s melodic. It’s rough. It feels like it might fall apart at any second.
Then there’s The Arctic Monkeys.
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Alex Turner basically spent the first two years of his career trying to be Julian Casablancas. He’s admitted it. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the British answer to the garage rock revolution. It’s faster, sure. The lyrics are more observational and wordy, but the DNA is identical. If you want that high-energy, infectious riffing, you start with I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.
Honestly, it’s funny how much Turner’s vocal delivery evolved from a Sheffield snarl into something more crooner-esque, much like Julian’s shift during the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino era. They followed the same trajectory.
Why Interpol and The Walkmen Feel Like The Strokes (But Aren't)
People lump these bands together because they all wore blazers in New York in 2002.
Interpol is much darker. Paul Banks isn't trying to be "cool" in a relaxed way; he’s trying to be "cool" in a "I might be a vampire" way. But the guitar work on Turn on the Bright Lights is the closest thing you’ll get to that interlocking Strokes logic. It’s just drenched in reverb and misery instead of sunlight and cigarettes.
The Walkmen are another essential piece of the puzzle. Hamilton Leithauser has a voice that can shred paint off a wall. "The Rat" is arguably the best song to come out of that entire era, and it captures the propulsive, nervous energy that made Room on Fire so good.
- Phoenix: These guys are the French pop-rock version. Thomas Mars has that same effortless vocal quality. Listen to Alphabetical or It's Never Been Like That. It’s cleaner, but the rhythmic tightness is very much in the same neighborhood.
- The Killers: Early Killers, specifically Hot Fuss. Before they became a stadium-straddling Springsteen tribute act, they were heavily influenced by the New York scene. "Mr. Brightside" is essentially a Strokes song with more synthesizers and a bigger budget for glitter.
The Modern Torchbearers: Who is Doing It Now?
The "Garage Rock Revival" supposedly died around 2007, but nobody told The Car Seat Headrest. Will Toledo is a songwriting genius who understands the value of a lo-fi vocal.
Teens of Denial is a masterpiece of modern indie rock that feels like it was recorded in the same spirit as Is This It. It’s long-winded, smart, and cynical. It doesn't sound exactly like them, but it feels like them.
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Then you have The Voidz.
Obviously, this is Julian’s other band. If you haven't checked them out because you heard they were "weird," you're missing out. Virtue is an incredible record. It takes the melodic sensibilities of The Strokes and throws them into a blender with 80s synth-pop, metal, and world music. It’s the logical conclusion of what happens when a guy who is tired of being a "rock star" decides to actually follow his weirdest impulses.
The Growlers also occupy a similar space, though with a bit more of a surf-rock, "Beach Goth" twist. They have that same nonchalant attitude. It’s music for people who think most modern production sounds too digital and fake.
The "Strokes-Lite" Problem: What to Avoid
There was a period in the mid-2000s where every band with a "The" in their name was signed to a major label.
The Vines. The Hives. The Thrills.
Some of it was great. The Hives are a blast. But a lot of it was derivative. If you’re digging deep for artists like The Strokes, you’ll eventually hit a wall of bands that sound like AI-generated versions of "Last Nite." You want to look for the bands that took the influence and did something else with it.
Parquet Courts is a perfect example. They are a New York band. They are "cool." They have jagged guitars. But they lean into the punk and art-rock side of things—think Wire or Devo mixed with a bit of that Strokes swagger. Wide Awake! is a phenomenal place to start if you want something that feels urgent.
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The Technical Side: Why They Sound That Way
It wasn't just the songs. It was the gear.
The Strokes famously used Fender DeVille amps and specific guitars—Albert with his Stratocaster and Nick with his Epiphone Riviera. They didn't use a lot of pedals. It was "direct-to-amp" energy.
If you're looking for bands with that sound, you have to look for artists who prioritize subtraction. Most modern music is "additive"—more layers, more synths, more tracks. The Strokes were about taking things away. If a part wasn't essential, it didn't stay. This is why bands like Sports Team or Fontaines D.C. occasionally get compared to them. It’s not that they sound the same musically, but they share a philosophy of "this is a band in a room, and we aren't hiding behind a laptop."
Beyond the English Language
Don't sleep on the international scene.
Los Bunkers from Chile have a massive discography that pulls heavily from the same 60s-meet-90s influences as The Strokes. Similarly, The 5,6,7,8's from Japan (yes, the ones from Kill Bill) capture that raw, garage-rock spirit that Julian loved so much he basically modeled his entire early career on it.
Music doesn't exist in a vacuum. The Strokes were inspired by Television (especially the album Marquee Moon) and Blondie. If you go backward, you’ll find that the "Strokes sound" is actually just the "New York Sound" that has been rotating since 1975.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playlist
Don't just hit shuffle on a "Similar Artists" radio station. That's how you get bored. Try this instead:
- Start with the Roots: Listen to Marquee Moon by Television. It is the blueprint for the dual-guitar attack Valensi and Hammond Jr. perfected.
- Go to the UK Contemporaries: Listen to the album Up the Bracket by The Libertines. It provides the chaotic energy that The Strokes sometimes lack.
- Check the Modern Descendants: Listen to Light Up Gold by Parquet Courts. It’s the modern evolution of the "bored but brilliant" New York vibe.
- Explore the Side Projects: Don't ignore Yours To Keep by Albert Hammond Jr. It’s arguably more "Strokes-y" than some actual Strokes albums. It’s bright, melodic, and incredibly catchy.
- Look for the "Slackers": Bands like The Drums or Beach Fossils take the melodic simplicity of The Strokes and apply it to a dreamier, more lo-fi aesthetic.
The reality is that no one will ever quite be The Strokes again. They were a product of a very specific moment in Manhattan—post-9/11, pre-smartphone, where you could still afford to be a starving artist in a leather jacket. But the spirit of that sound—the tight riffs, the melodic basslines (shoutout to Nikolai Fraiture), and the "I don't care but I actually care a lot" vocals—is still all over the place if you know where to listen.
Focus on bands that prioritize rhythm and melody over production polish. That’s the secret sauce. Whether it’s a band from 1977 or 2024, that specific tension is what makes a band feel like they belong in the same breath as Is This It.