‘SNL’: The Strokes Play Newer Material, and Fans Have Mixed Thoughts

The Strokes returned to Saturday Night Live last night, and they pulled off a pair of roaring performances. However, not everyone in their fan base was pleased. The New York City five-piece band — consisting of Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond Jr., Nick Valensi, Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti — played two tracks from their new Rick Rubin-produced album The New Abnormal, “Adults Are Talking” and “Bad Decisions.” However, some fans were hoping they’d dip into their back catalog.

This year has been a strange year for SNL, with musical guests mixing up their selections. Some, such as Justin Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion, played the standard sets consisting of two new songs. However, Jack White and the Season 45 “At Home” performers (Chris Martin, Miley Cyrus and Boyz II Men) all chose to play older songs or covers, being as they didn’t have any projects to promote. Many hoped The Strokes would take the latter approach, playing tracks from their biggest albums, 2001’s Is This It and 2003’s Room on Fire. However, some of the faithful were thrilled, regardless. Scroll through to see some fans’ reactions.

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One fan wrote, “the strokes played snl and chose to play my least favorite songs from their new album.” Another wrote, “The Strokes could have played New York City Cops and become legends. They puss out and play sh—y new songs no one cares about. They really are rock n roll. Past their prime, sad, bloated. #snl.”

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“ok i jus[t] saw someone tweet about the strokes and it reminded me did any of y’all see their performance on SNL??” a more negative fan added. “what did u think— it seemed [really] low energy and weird vibes, i saw them live last year and it was NOT like that [I don’t know] and their new stuff sucks so…”

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“It boggles my mind that “Is This It?” from The Strokes will be 20 years old next year,” a more neutral fan wrote. “And honestly, when they started this song on SNL, I thought they were about to play ‘Someday’ or ‘Hard to Explain.’”

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“On the positive side of things, a supporter tweeted, “Just a casual late-night observation. The Strokes laid down two really good performances on #SNL tonight. I am definitely checking the new album out.”

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A second positive fan added, “For some reason, I never heard the new Strokes stuff until last night on SNL. Totally classic Strokes vibe. That Rick Rubin guy is going places.”

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“Alright, I’m a drunk fanboy but the Strokes were so good on SNL tonight,” an excited supporter wrote. “Albert + Nick forever! The best double-barreled lead guitar combo goin today! And Julian is the greatest American rock frontman of the last 20 years! F— off! I love New York City! Don’t ever @ me about it.”

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Some viewers also made comparisons to classic artists. “The Strokes out there rocking SNL tonight. It’s new order and billy idol and modern English in a very strokes kind of way ugh I love it so much,” one fan wrote, while another added, “I thought The Strokes were covering a Cure song on SNL but I guess their new song just rips off The Cure? And also Billy Idol, as my husband quickly added. #musicishard”