The Strokes - Demos and B-sides
The Strokes
You may have heard of this little band from New York. The Strokes latest album, Angles, sold over 90,000 copies in its first week alone. And songs like ‘Last Nite’, ‘Juicebox’, and ‘Hard to Explain’ have rocked the charts on both sides of the Atlantic since the band’s first album in 2001.
But what many people do not know is that prior to the debut album This is it, the band recorded The Modern age EP, which included the songs ‘the Modern Age’, ‘Last Nite’ and ‘barely Legal’, all of which would be re-recorded for there first album, along with a handful of other rare demos and B-sides that people rarely get to hear.
The Modern Age EP
Top 5 Strokes B-sides and Demos
5)In Her Prime (demo)
One of the major criticisms that the Strokes latest album received was that was that they seem to have lost there edge. Where as at one point they were shaping the face of pop music at the time with songs like ‘Last Nite’, now it seems that they are more bowing to the conventions of modern music.
If you felt that the latest album was a bit soft, a bit too electronic and not rock enough then ‘In Her Prime’ is exactly the song to bring back that original strokes feeling. You know the one… the feeling that kicked ass.
‘In Her Prime’ brings back feeling and the sound the guitar driven songs that launched the strokes in to fame. It’s a great song that reminds us why so many fans are devoted to the band. Why they decided to never release this on an album we will never know.
4) rhythm song (Demo)
The song is called rhythm song, and when you listen it you will see why the song is called rhythm song. If you are a guitar lover then this is the track for you, Albert Hammond, jr’s heavily distorted guitar makes a great backing for Nick Valensi’s awesome solo towards the end of the track.
When listening to this its hard not to wonder if Julian Casablanca was deliberately trying to channel Jim Morrison. Listen to this song, then listen to either Peace Frog or Roadhouse Blues by The Doors, then listen to a song from the latest album, then listen to The Doors again. Its almost uncanny, or is it just me?
The strokes... in some sort of woodland, for what I'm sure is a very good reason
3)Take A Walk On The Wild Side. (live cover)
speaking of the strokes sounding like bands from the 60's, here is The Strokes doing a cover of Lou Reed's Take A Walk On The Wild Side. And it is exactly as awesome as you would expect...
Yes, that was what you just heard.
Covering an artist as influential and revered as Lou reed is a ballsy move, but the strokes took it and just wiped the floor with it. Everything about this song is incredible, Julian’s vocals fit the track almost better than Lou’s did and the rest of the band back him up perfectly.
It may have lost a certain grace and looseness that the original track that made the original song so great, but with this being a live track that is forgivable. A studio version would make a fantastic bonus track for the strokes upcoming fifth album.
2)Hawaii Aloha (B-side)
The strokes latest album received mixed reviews. Part of the reason that people found the new album so hard to digest is that Julian Casablanca wrote almost all of the first three albums, where as the fourth album was more of a collaboration from all members of the band. When Julian writes the songs it sounds much more like this…
Hawaii Aloha is pure Casablanca, it brings us back to his brilliant lyrics and composition. The rest of the band are very talented, as we saw from guitarist Albert Hammond Jr’s solo album, but it is Julian who really has the talent for lyrics and song composition, and this song is a perfect demonstration of this
‘Whether you're drunk or stoned
or we're sober and old,
If I'm with you
I'm a happy man.
if you feel safe and cold
while you count your gold.’
1)I'll Try Anything Once (Demo and B-side)
A version of this song eventually did get recorded for First Impressions of Earth, as the song You Only Live Once, and it was first released as a B-side on the Juicebox single.
This slow and beautiful song really shows off how poetic the band can be. Its so far removed from any other of the songs, and demonstrates how big the bands range its.
Its not guitar-driven like the first three albums and its not electronically-driven like the latest, its simply Nick Valensi on the keyboard while Julian Casablanca sings a beautiful and touching personal song.
as always you can pick up strokes tracks from just below.
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charlie craven
