RockLists.com
Cover of The New Abnormal by The Strokes
Cover: The New Abnormal

Song · The Strokes

“Bad Decisions” by The Strokes

From the album The New Abnormal (2020)

“Bad Decisions” by The Strokes appears on 22 radio countdowns from 19 stations between 2020 and 2026. It was first released in 2020 on the album The New Abnormal. Its best result is #1 on the WEQX Top 102.7 of 2020. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #1 alternative song of 2020, #6,607 alternative song of all time and #1 of the '20s.

22countdowns
19stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
9top 10 finishes
2020–2026years charted

Watch

The Strokes - Bad Decisions (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (thestrokesVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Bad Decisions" arrived on February 18, 2020, the second taste of The Strokes' sixth album The New Abnormal, with a video dropping the same day. Rick Rubin produced it and Jason Lader recorded and mixed, and the band sounds loose and cheerfully shameless about its borrowing: it lifts elements of Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself", which is why Idol and his old bandmate Tony James sit in the writing credits next to the five Strokes.

Julian Casablancas croons over the top with a lazy, knowing smirk, Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi trade bright, wiry guitar lines, and Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti keep the whole thing bouncing like a lost new wave single. The cover art borrows Ron Hicks' painting Café Kiss, and on October 31, 2020, they took it to Saturday Night Live.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2020 2 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2020 91
2020 16 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 93 Songs of 2020 93
2020 7 Indie 102.3 Denver, CO Indie 102.3 Top 102.3 Songs of 2020 103
2020 8 X96 Salt Lake City, UT X96 Top 50 Songs of 2020 50
2020 7 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2020 88
2020 1 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2020 103
2020 7 WERS 88.9 Boston, MA WERS Top 88 Songs of 2020 88
2020 17 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA ALT 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2020 51
2020 7 101X Austin, TX 101X Top 25 Songs of 2020 25
2020 22 WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2020 104
2020 69 90.9 The Bridge Kansas City, MO 90.9 The Bridge Top 90 Songs of 2020 90
2020 23 The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN The Current Top 89 Songs of 2020 89
2020 25 WTMD Baltimore, MD WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2020 89
2020 13 WFUV New York, NY WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2020 90
2020 18 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2020 107
2020 6 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2020 199
2020 26 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Top 100 Most Played Songs of 2020 100
2020 5 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2020 64

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2022 426 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2025 562 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2026 484 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500
2026 518 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound 1055

Charting alongside it in 2020

Best songs of 2020 →
  1. 2Lost In YesterdayTame Impala
  2. 3CautionThe Killers
  3. 4And It's Still AlrightNathaniel Rateliff
  4. 5Black MadonnaCage The Elephant
  5. 6KyotoPhoebe Bridgers
  6. 7Letter To YouBruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Bad Decisions" by The Strokes.

Be kind and stay on topic. Guidelines

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.