The Arctic Monkeys frontman on why The Strokes’ 2001 debut means so much to him.
“I used to play that first album in college all the time, when our band was starting. Loads of people were into them, so loads of bands coming out sounded exactly like them. I remember consciously trying not to sound like The Strokes, but I still loved that album. They were the band that encouraged me to rip the knees of my jeans and write on them in marker pen. I wrote on them in red ink, `I’ve got soul and I’m superbad!’ Have you ever heard the Monkeys’ version of Take It Or Leave It? We did it on French TV when they asked us to do a cover, it was terrible, but I enjoyed it! I saw them live on the tour for the second album, when they played Alexandra Palace [in 2003]. Me, [Matt] Helders and Andy [Nicholson, ex-Arctic Monkeys bassist] got the National Express coach down to London to see them. We met Pete Doherty in the crowd that day. It was an amazing gig.”
