Song · The Strokes
“The Adults Are Talking” by The Strokes
From the album The New Abnormal (2020)
“The Adults Are Talking” by The Strokes appears on 18 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 2020 and 2026. It was first released in 2020 on the album The New Abnormal. Its best result is #1 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 2021. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #84 alternative song of 2020 and #161 of the '20s.
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"The Adults Are Talking" opens The New Abnormal, the Strokes' sixth album, released in 2020, and it went to alternative radio that November as the record's fourth single. Rick Rubin produced; the whole band wrote the music and Julian Casablancas wrote the words.
Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi on guitars, Nikolai Fraiture on bass, Fabrizio Moretti on drums, Casablancas out front: it's all five of them sounding sleek, loose and a little world-weary, a band that knows exactly how cool it is and has stopped worrying about it. They played it on Saturday Night Live on Halloween night 2020, Roman Coppola directed the video, and it climbed to number 8 on Billboard's Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.
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 | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 63 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2020 | 91 |
| 2020 | 11 | WTMD Baltimore, MD | WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2020 | 89 |
| 2020 | 96 | Indie 102.3 Denver, CO | Indie 102.3 Top 102.3 Songs of 2020 | 103 |
| 2020 | 26 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2020 | 107 |
| 2020 | 72 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2020 | 199 |
| 2020 | 37 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2020 | 103 |
| 2020 | 53 | WFUV New York, NY | WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2020 | 90 |
| 2020 | 43 | WERS 88.9 Boston, MA | WERS Top 88 Songs of 2020 | 88 |
| 2020 | 2 | WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD | WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2020 | 104 |
| 2021 | 1 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2021 | 91 |
| 2021 | 58 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2021 | 200 |
| 2021 | 68 | 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH | 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2021 | 88 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 63 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2023 | 1076 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 627 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2025 | 486 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 883 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
| 2026 | 68 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
Also listed as: The Adults are Talking.
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