The Strokes made its debut in 2001 with ‘Is This It,’ and its influence on the music scene was tremendous, where so many bands followed the doors they could open for alternative music in the industry. The album became such an inspiration that NME named it the number one album of the year, while Rolling Stones gave them the number two spot; they were even chosen as the band of the year in 2002 by Spin.
The Strokes brought something so different and influential to the music scene during the rise of 2000s NYC indie bands like The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, and Vampire Weekend. It was a time when alternative music really didn’t have a consistent spot, and they changed that with their debut album.
However, during that time, there were also understandable comparisons between the bands, especially between The Killers and them. Even though The Strokes were being praised for the body of work they released, there was always a bitter feeling towards The Killers as they were more popular, especially after their track ‘Mr. Brightside’ became such a mega-hit that guitarist Nick Valensi even commented about his frustration about the situation in Lizzy Goodman’s book Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City, 2001–2011.”
Nick Valensi’s words about The Killers’ popularity read:
“We had conversations that went along the lines of ‘Gosh, I think our songs are better than ‘Mr. Brightside’ by The Killers, but how come that’s the one everyone is listening to?'”
The Killers took over the scene with their track ‘Mr. Brightside’ was an undeniable fact, but the reality of the situation was also the fact that The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers was admiring The Strokes’ work from afar. So much so that the frontman was so disheartened by their album after he heard the full ‘Is This It’ album from top to bottom, and he revealed to NME in 2012 that ‘Mr. Brightside’ was the only track they kept from the tracks they had planned to include in their next body of work.
Brandon Flowers’ words about The Strokes album that made him question their work read:
“[I felt] depressed [after hearing The Strokes’ album ‘Is This It.’] That record just sounded so perfect. We threw away everything [we were working on], and the only song that made the cut and remained was ‘Mr. Brightside.'”
The ‘Is This It’ album made Flowers feel depressed and disappointed with his band as they hadn’t produced songs of that level of quality and hadn’t set the stage for alternative music as The Strokes had done, which made him decide to start from scratch. Fortunately, he chose to keep ‘Mr. Brightside,’ a track that has stood the test of time and has become a classic that so many people still resonate with.
