10 Most Underrated Rock Songs Of The 2000s

The Strokes' career trajectory is one of the more interesting in rock and roll. While they may have ignited the fire for garage rock again on their album Is This It, the next few years of albums like First Impressions of Earth left a lot to be desired. As we reach their sophomore effort with Room On Fire though, more of the same is not necessarily that bad of a thing.

Across this half hour of energy, most of the Strokes' magic is still here, down to the amazing single Reptilia. That's not the only strength to this album though, with Under Control being a weird slow-tempo number that throws it back even further. Whereas the first handful of Strokes songs seemed to crib more and more from the '70s, this feels like an old school melody that could go back to the stone age of rock and roll, as Julian Casablancas croons like Roy Orbison, albeit in his barfly demeanor.

Compared to some of the more abrasive numbers like the Way It Is, this is also one of the most clean sounding songs on the record, with Albert Hammond Jr.'s guitar feeling like it's in perfect tune with the rest of the band. Even if dark times may have been around the corner, that initial spark of creativity is still here in spades.