The Modern Age by The Strokes

The Modern Age was the Strokes' first release, a debut EP that the independent Rough Trade label put out in Britain on January 29, 2001, with the American release following on May 22. It kicked off a scramble among the record companies, the fiercest fight over a rock band in years, and one spin explains the fuss: this is guitar rock stripped to the studs, wiry, bored and effortlessly cool.

Julian Casablancas sings like he can barely be bothered to lift his head off the bar, his voice fuzzed and far away, while Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr. knot their guitars into tight, chattering patterns. Nikolai Fraiture's bass and Fabrizio Moretti's drums keep everything clipped and tidy: no solos wasted, no fat left on the bone. "Last Nite" is the one that stuck, a scrappy strut with a smirk on its face.

Think of it as a sketchbook. The title track and its companions would all be cut again for the debut album, Is This It, with the words and arrangements nudged here and there, but this is where the buzz began.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.