Julian Casablancas Admits One Big Strokes Hit Is ‘Pretty Dead to Me’

In a recent feature in The Guardian, The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas singled out one of his band’s own songs as a track he “can no longer listen to.” In fact, he called the song “pretty dead to me,” and named off several other Strokes songs that aren’t far behind.

Julian Casablancas Names Strokes Song That’s ‘Pretty Dead to Me’

Casablancas was speaking to The Guardian for a feature that offered a broader view of his musical tastes and the songs that have impacted him over the years. But when it came time to speak on “the song I can no longer listen to,” Casablancas looked inward at his own band.

“‘Last Nite‘ by The Strokes is pretty dead to me. I’m not sure why,” revealed the vocalist. “Last Nite” was the second single and biggest radio hit off the band’s critically hailed debut album Is This It? It’s also the third most performed song in the group’s catalog according to Setlist.fm.

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But Casablancas didn’t stop there. He also told The Guardian, “There are some others like ‘Reptilia,’ ‘Hard to Explain,’ ‘Someday,’ ‘Take It Or Leave it,’ ‘New York City Cops’ that are comparable in terms of crowd reaction that I’m not quite as sick of. If I heard it on the radio, I’d probably turn it off.”

What Else Julian Casablancas Has Said About “Last Nite’

Back in 2020, Casablancas had also shared that he had become “sick” of playing the band’s older songs live. He told The Times that burnout had become a factor.

“When you’re growing up and imagining playing music, it is for the excitement, but the one aspect of doing it for a living that is a sadness you don’t anticipate is that you play songs so much, you become sick of them,” he explained at the time.

“We hadn’t played for a while,” Casablancas said at the time after returning from a lengthy layoff with the band, “So it was still fun, but when you start playing 30 or 40 shows, the music doesn’t move you. You feel phony. To some extent, that’s why I play with Voidz. I couldn’t care less about playing ‘Last Nite.’”

Julian Casablancas on The Strokes

Earlier this year while speaking to the L.A. Times, Casablancas talked about stepping away from The Strokes for a while. The band’s last album was 2020’s The New Abnormal record.

While burnout is a real factor, it’s not the only factor. When asked by the L.A. Times if he felt like he was contributing to an “opiate-of-the-masses” vibe with The Strokes, he responded, “No, because I think I put political thoughts now in Strokes songs as well.”

He continued, ““I always have to some degree,” he added. “I definitely think a lot of Strokes fans don’t get that about it so much, which is maybe why I’ve kind of stepped away a little bit.”

That said, he does have appreciation for the band. “it’s a very cool day job that I’m honored to have, so I don’t feel negatively about it. If it was wasting so much of my time that I couldn’t do anything positive, then I would. But I don’t let it get to that point. At least I don’t think so. I could be lying to myself,” he stated at the time.