What are The Strokes' biggest songs?
2 June 2025, 14:34 | Updated: 2 June 2025, 14:36
The New York indie veterans' debut studio album was released nearly 25 years ago, but which of their tracks actually has the most streams and views?
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The Strokes - comprised of Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti - are one of the most important bands of the noughties, with many of their hits standing the test of time.
It's easy to reel off a list of the NYC indie rockers' most memorable or iconic hits, but which of their songs have actually been streamed the most times? You might be surprised by the results.
Find out below.
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The Strokes - Reptilia: released February 9th 2004
The iconic 2004 single was the second to be released from The Strokes' 2003 Room On Fire album. Released with their Regina Spektor collaboration Modern Girls & Old Fashioned Men as a B-Side, the single peaked on the UK singles chart at number 17 and has an incredible 649 million Spotify streams and 234 million YouTube views and counting, making it their "biggest" track to date.
The Strokes - Reptilia (Official HD Video)
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The Strokes - Last Nite: released October 23rd 2001
Perhaps unbelievably, The Strokes' iconic hit, which was the second single from their debut album Is This It, isn't their most streamed of all time. The track, which was released on 23rd October 2001 was the band's highest scoring single when it comes to the UK chart, peaking at 14 and earning them platinum status. At the time of writing this article it has over 725 million Spotify streams and over 131 million YouTube views so far. Though it seems pretty simple and lo-fi, it was this grainy old-style video which helped kick off the 00s indie scene and spawned videos just like it for years to come.
The Strokes - Last Nite (Official HD Video)
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The Strokes - The Adults Are Talking: released 3rd November 2020
The opening track on the band's sixth studio album The New Abnormal (2020) is now up there with their most listened to songs of all time-thanks in huge part to TikTok. The single, which was produced by Rick Rubin and written by all members of the band, was released as the album's fourth single on the 3rd November the same year and has achieved over 617 million Spotify streams and over 59 million YouTube views so far, but who's to say how many more ears it's passively reached thanks to the social media platform?
The Strokes - The Adults Are Talking (Official Video)
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The Strokes - Someday: released 5th August 2002
This melodic ditty was the third and final single to be released from the band's Is This Is It album and is still one of their most memorable songs today. Charting at 27 on the UK singles chart and achieving gold and platinum status in the UK and US charts respectively, the song has achieved over 543 million Spotify streams and over 93 million YouTube views to date.
The Strokes - Someday (Official HD Video)
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The Strokes - You Only Live Once: released in 2006
The opening track on the band's third studio album First Impressions of Earth (2005) was the third and final single to be released from the record. The memorable 2006 track makes an impressive appearance on this list with over 366 million Spotify streams and over 211 million YouTube views- perhaps in part due to its iconic video, which sees Casablancas and co clad in white as a black oil-like substance fills the room. The song's infectious riff and melody is a definite winner in any of their live setlists and is perfect for a summer's day.
The Strokes - You Only Live Once (Official HD Video)
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The Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness: released 9th February 2011
The first entry to come from The Strokes' Angles album, but certainly not the last, Under Cover Of Darkness takes a respectable sixth place in this list, achieving over 229 million Spotify streams and over 8.7 million YouTube views. The official video - which is directed by Warren Fu and starts with a clip of their You Only Live Once video plus contains a reference to Last Nite - doesn't even feature on their official YouTube channel- so we'd imagine it would score even higher. Still, it's steadily become one of The Strokes' most popular modern classics, which is evidenced by its respectable position. Speaking of the track, Casablancas told NME: "It’s about someone who works in the military, and has a girlfriend. It’s cheesy, I guess, but it’s about having to leave a loved one."
The Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness
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The Strokes - Call It Fate, Call It Karma: 2013
The album-ender, which features on The Strokes' fifth studio effort Comedown Machine was never released as a single, but has made its impact regardless. The band's album, which showcases many approaches and influences, was released with no promotion and its cover art was designed to resemble an old RCA tape reel-perhaps increasing fans interest in its lesser-known songs. This romantic and lyrically barely-audible track is another TikTok fave and word on the street is that it turns up in plenty of Spotify "chilled" playlists, which would explain why its garnered a healthy 211 million-plus streams on the platform to combine with its respectable 9.6 million YouTube views.
Call It Fate, Call It Karma
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The Strokes - Selfless: 2020
Track two from the band's sixth studio album The New Abnormal, Selfless is another song which displays the more melodic side to Casablancas' vocals, with the frontman showing off the sweetest of his falsetto skills. Despite it not being a single, forums such as Reddit see The Strokes mega-fans describing it among their "Top 5" songs with some even saying it moved them to tears. Selfless may be a lesser-known track to original Strokes fans, but over 186 million Spotify streams and over 131 million YouTube views prove plenty of people are listening to this track.
The Strokes - Selfless (Official Audio)
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The Strokes - Hard To Explain: 25th June 2001
The popularity of this Is This It track, which has garnered over 153 million Spotify streams and over 44 million YouTube views thus far, isn't Hard To Explain. Despite what people might mistakenly believe, it was this song (not Last Nite) which was the lead single to The Strokes' debut album and went on to typify much of the band's sound. Coupled with the controversial New York City Cops as a B-Side (due to the unfortunate timing of the release with the 9/11 terrorist attack), the iconic Strokes hit peaked at number 16 on the UK singles chart and sees the band at their most raw. Though it's a fairly simple listen now, the song - complete with an infectious riff and starts and stops - was pretty ground-breaking at the time... Especially when alternative music was in somewhat of a post-grunge and post-britpop malaise.
The Strokes - Hard To Explain (Official HD Video)
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The Strokes - 12:51: released 6th October 2003
The lead single from the band's second album Room On Fire demonstrated a progression in The Strokes' sound. The track peaked at Number 7 on the UK singles chart in October 2003 and has since notched up over 133 million plays on Spotify and over 23 million views on YouTube.
The Strokes - 12:51 (Official HD Video)
Notable mentions:
Just shy of the Top 10 in eleventh place was The Strokes hit Machu Picchu which roughly had a total of over 148 million YouTube and Spotify streams and their Is This It title track which had approximately 132 million streams across YouTube and Spotify.
What's clear is that The Strokes may have classic hits known to many, they also have a younger and loyal fervent audience, who hungrily stream their more recent hits too.
