15 NICK VALENSI & ALBERT HAMMOND JR.

The band responsible for taking garage rock into the 2000s

Just when we needed it most, the Strokes made guitars raw again. Their debut arrived amid a sea of nu metal so overproduced it was difficult to detect human involvement. The Strokes captured the excitement of five kids in a garage discovering rock ’n’ roll, and spawned an entire scene of bands called ‘The ...s’. Even shock rock godfather Alice Cooper was inspired to return to his garage rock roots. The Strokes’ guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. had great interplay, each playing different parts to create a bigger whole without compromising their immediacy. Three chords, loud amps and total honesty win every time.