The Strokes' "Reptilia"

Did it take a trust fund to save rock and roll? This week, we’re traveling back to the rock revival epicenter, New York City in the early 2000s, to talk The Strokes and their 2003 single “Reptilia”. Diallo & LUXXURY get into the band’s not-so-humble origins and not-so-hidden influences, why 2001 was the year music fandom began to fragment, and Julian Casablancas’s process of “writing sideways”. 

Then, we break open the stems to get into the surprisingly symphonic composition, the human percussion that sounds like a drum machine, and the grungy lounge lizard-ness of Julian’s isolated vocals. 

Songs Discussed:

“It Never Rains in Southern California” (1972) - Albert Hammond

“The Air That I Breathe” (1972) - The Hollies

“Creep” (1992) - Radiohead

“Yellow Ledbetter” (1992) - Pearl Jam

“Hard to Explain” (2001) - The Strokes

“Since U Been Gone” (2004) - Kelly Clarkson

“In the End” (2000) - Linkin Park

“Blurry” (2001) - Puddle of Mudd

“It’s Been A While” (2001) - Staind

“Smooth Criminal” (2001) - Alien Ant Farm

“Flavor of the Weak” (2000) - American Hi-Fi

“Fat Lip” (2001) - Sum 41

“Rock and Roll” (1970) - The Velvet Underground

“American Girl” (1976) - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

“Last Nite” (2001) - The Strokes

“Freeze Frame” (1981) - The J. Geils Band

“Let’s Go Crazy” (1984) - Prince

“Bull in the Heather” (1994) - Sonic Youth

“12:51” (2003) - The Strokes

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Engineering by Katie Gilchrist

Produced by Eric Hicks and Demian Kendall

Edited and mixed by Eric Hicks

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