Watch Arctic Monkeys Cover The Strokes’ “Is This It” In Queens

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Firefly Music Festival

Watch Arctic Monkeys Cover The Strokes’ “Is This It” In Queens

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Firefly Music Festival

“I just wanted to be one of the Strokes, now look at the mess you made me make,” Alex Turner sings on the first line of Arctic Monkeys’ new album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. They backed up that claim tonight at Queens’ Forest Hills Stadium, covering the Strokes’ “Is This It.” Turner introduced the cover, “We couldn’t think of a tennis song, so we’re gonna try this.”

Previously, they’ve covered “Reptilia” and “Take It Or Leave It.” Arctic Monkeys’ love for the Strokes goes back to the band’s earlier days. In 2011, Turner told NME, “I remember I used to play [Is This It] in college all the time, when our band was first starting. Loads of people were into them, so loads of bands coming out sounded like them. And I remember consciously trying not to sound like the Strokes, deliberately taking bits out of songs that sounded too much like them, but I still loved that album.”

“As much as they probably hate hearing this as well, 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,'” Turner continues. “My favorite Strokes tune is probably ‘Trying Your Luck’.” Watch Arctic Monkeys’ cover of “Is This It” below.

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