In the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino song “The Star Treatment,” Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner famously sings, “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes.” Well, it seems The Strokes’ own Julian Casablancas might be willing to switch places with Turner.
“Lolll – I always wanted to be in the Arctic Monkeys,” The Strokes frontman captioned an Instagram post on Sunday in which he effortlessly recreated the cover art for his contemporaries’ 2006 album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. (In the grayscale photo, Casablancas smokes a cigarette while glancing thoughtfully off-camera, mimicking the iconic shot of The Violet May’s Chris McClure from the original LP. Of course, he’s also replaced “Arctic Monkeys” on the sticker in the top left-hand corner with “The Strokes.”)
McClure quickly caught wind of The Strokes’ frontman’s post, sharing it on Twitter and writing, “Anyone who knows me will know of my love for The Strokes. So when I see @Casablancas_J posting a photo pretending to be me. It’s reeeeaaaalllllly mad!!!!!” along with a crying emoji.
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Next summer, The Strokes are set to hit the road with Red Hot Chili Peppers, opening for the veteran rock band on a number of their U.S. tour dates alongside Thundercat and King Princess. Meanwhile, the band’s landmark 2001 debut album, Is This It, turned 20 years old last month, and artists from Cage the Elephant and The Regrettes to Wallows and Glass Animals sat down with Consequence to look back on the studio set’s profound impact.
As for Arctic Monkeys, Casablancas and the rest of us are still awaiting word on the band’s much anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.
Anyone who knows me will know of my love for The Strokes. So when I see @Casablancas_J posting a photo pretending to be me. It’s reeeeaaaalllllly mad!!!!! 😭 pic.twitter.com/4rwgj1SUmN
— Chris McClure (@chrismcclure86) October 10, 2021