10 Perfect Rock Songs That Were Inspired From Another Band
4. Bad Decisions - The Strokes
There's been a common joke in the rock community that The Strokes have basically made their career off of reinventing old rock songs. If you listen to some of their first singles like Last Nite, you can practically see them taking the skeleton of the song American Girl by Tom Petty and twisting it into something that's a lot more dangerous sounding than the heartland song it was intended as. So when they stepped up to the plate to give us another smash in 2020, some of the old habits die hard on Bad Decisions.
From the opening chords, Bad Decisions feels like the greatest '80s track that you've never heard, with Julian Casablancas going on and on about the more questionable things that he's done throughout his life. When you listen to the guitar tone though, there's a bit of a familiar vibe to the song I Melt With You by Modern English, from the low register to the chorus effects used.
But they're not done yet, my friend. When the chorus hits and Julian decides to let loose with his vocals a little bit, the melody sounds oddly similar to the song Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol. With this being one of the biggest triumphs that the Strokes have had in a while, they seem to have found the way forward from just ripping off '70s rock tropes: just pick a different decade.