The Strokes

Well-to-do, good-looking children of celebrities carry a particular burden. They may be privileged and talented, but sometimes have to work twice as hard to prove they’re not coattail-riding. Luckily, Strokes’ singer-songwriter Julian Casablancas, son of Elite Model Agency founder John Casablancas, guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., son of hit-spinning singer-songwriter/producer Albert Hammond, and Casablancas’ prep-school pals Nick Valensi, Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti, didn’t have to sweat it. They managed to generate massive buzz even before they released their first EP, The Modern Age, in 2001. RCA won the bidding war, and released Is This It later that year; Britain’s NME declared it the album of the decade. Featuring garage-rock-influenced pop that bears comfortable comparisons to Spoon (and frequently, Television), the Strokes rode their popularity with serious touring, including opening for the Rolling Stones. Their recorded output has not been as frequent, however. Two years after their debut, they released Room on Fire, full of synths, hand-claps and what All Music Guide reviewer Heather Phares called “stealth pop.” Both Fire and its 2006 follow-up, First Impressions of Earth, reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, but the Strokes frenzy had calmed significantly by the latter’s release. Members announced a hiatus and began working on solo projects, but reconvened in 2009 to start working on an album for 2010 release. They began recording with producer Joe Chiccarelli (Beck, U2) and expect it to drop in September.