Greater than 20 years after the Strokes led an indie rock renaissance in New York Metropolis, a Strokes cowl band known as the Brokes performed a sold-out present at Arlene’s Grocery, a small venue on the Decrease East Aspect.
Hailing from Toronto, the Brokes have been on their first American tour, and this gig held particular that means: The Strokes used to play Arlene’s again after they have been the storage rock princes of downtown Manhattan honing their act at golf equipment like this one.
Throughout a 45-minute set, the Brokes blazed by way of early Strokes hits like “The Trendy Age” and “Final Nite” as followers chanted lyrics and pumped their fists into the air. The frontman, Marlon Chaplin, wore sun shades and fingerless gloves whereas singing by way of a distortion impact to match Julian Casablancas’ vocal fashion.
The Brokes guitarist Adrian Traub-Rees, sporting a white swimsuit and Converse sneakers, regarded and gave the impression of Albert Hammond Jr. as he performed a white Fender Stratocaster. The group roared when he traded licks with Brandon Wall, who performs Nick Valensi’s guitar elements, throughout one other Strokes fan favourite, “Reptilia.”
Mr. Chaplin addressed the gang in his Casablancas-esque tone: “We’re taking you again to ‘Room on Fireplace’ with this subsequent tune.”
After a number of extra Strokes hits, Mr. Chaplin alluded to the previous: “I don’t have to let you know all in regards to the historical past of the Strokes right here at Arlene’s.”
The grainy footage posted to YouTube of the Strokes at Arlene’s in 2000 is now an artifact of a bygone scene. Scruffy and unsigned, the band throws itself into “New York Metropolis Cops” and “Soma” from the tiny stage. Three years later, the group would seem on the quilt of Rolling Stone. Together with Interpol and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Strokes turned a part of the sleazy indie rock epoch chronicled in Lizzy Goodman’s e-book “Meet Me within the Lavatory,” and the documentary based mostly on it.
It’s the romance of the early aughts that the Brokes recreate for his or her followers, who should not, as you may count on, ageing millennials who grew up listening to “Is This It” on iPods in the course of the George W. Bush administration. As a substitute, the gang at Arlene’s was made up predominantly of Gen-Zers who had found the Strokes by way of later albums like “Comedown Machine” (2013) and “The New Irregular” (2020) and now discover themselves craving for the band’s gritty genesis.
“They sound identical to them,” mentioned Bonnie Astrid, 23, who got here to the present from New Haven, Conn. “Seeing them appears like I’m seeing the Strokes in the event that they have been younger once more. If Julian was younger once more.”
Caroline Anchor, 26, concurred. “Being right here appears like being at a Strokes nerd fest,” she mentioned. “The Brokes play deep cuts, songs the Strokes would by no means play reside at some huge stadium at this time.”
Sammy Moran, 25, mentioned he felt a fan’s pleasure when he bumped right into a member of the Brokes on his strategy to the lavatory. “My dad and mom didn’t create me early sufficient to see that point when the Strokes have been the last word New York band,” he mentioned. “I really feel robbed due to that.”
He added, “I’d somewhat see the Brokes one million occasions over than the Strokes.”
Hours earlier than the present, the Brokes pulled into the Decrease East Aspect in a silver Dodge Caravan and hauled their gear into the venue. Earlier than sound test, they took a strolling tour of types to go to websites of Strokes historical past.
Their first cease was 171 Ludlow Avenue, the previous handle of Luna Lounge, an early venue for the Strokes that closed in 2005. Now it’s a boutique lodge — Resort Indigo — however that didn’t cease the Brokes from nerding out as visitors with purchasing baggage stood outdoors ready for Ubers.
“We’re on sacred territory,” Mr. Chaplin, the frontman, mentioned. “That is the place it began.”
Mr. Traub-Rees, the guitarist, famous the road of vacationers outdoors Katz’s Deli.
“We all know quite a bit has modified right here, however to me there’s nonetheless an power on the Decrease East Aspect,” he mentioned. “Possibly it’s the vacationer in me, however even regardless of the Luna Lounge now being a lodge, I’m nonetheless seeing ghosts and resident spirits. I’m not ashamed to get a pretzel and stroll throughout the Brooklyn Bridge.”
Dan Bedard, the group’s bassist, dropped the G phrase. “We all know what New Yorkers consider the Decrease East Aspect’s gentrification,” he mentioned. “However we’re not too cool to be in a tribute band, and we’re not too cool to say we love New York.”
The Brokes continued their ruminations as they marched to the Mercury Lounge on Houston Avenue. “This was their Cavern Membership,” Mr. Traub-Rees mentioned, referring to the Liverpool, England, venue that served as a testing floor for the Beatles. “Standing right here, I can visualize the lengthy strains that fashioned for folks to see the Strokes as they began to take off.”
The Brokes ambled into the East Village to hunt out the graffiti-marked doorway that after led to Transporterraum, the basement studio the place the Strokes recorded their debut album, launched in 2001. It’s nonetheless a recording studio, identified now as Flux Studios. When an engineer stepped out for a smoke, he mentioned a hip-hop session was underway. The Brokes craned their necks to look inside earlier than the door slammed shut.
Lastly, they stepped into 2A, a bar that was as soon as a hangout for the Strokes. Over Brooklyn Lagers, the Brokes mirrored on their journey.
It began, Mr. Chaplin mentioned, on an evening out with some buddies in Toronto in 2017. They ended up at a karaoke occasion, and Mr. Chaplin took the stage on a whim to sing the Strokes music “Sometime.”
“Once I obtained offstage, everybody mentioned I sounded identical to Julian,” he recalled. “A man on the bar advised me he was satisfied it was a Strokes recording taking part in on the audio system.”
It wasn’t till 2022 that Mr. Chaplin assembled some buddies to carry out because the Brokes, just about as a gag, for a Halloween occasion. Three months later, after they performed a Toronto membership, The Child G, they needed to flip folks away on the door.
“That’s once we realized we had one thing,” he mentioned.
The Brokes nonetheless have day jobs. Mr. Traub-Rees (Albert) is a carpenter. Mr. Bedard (Nikolai Fraiture) works at a nursing residence. Mr. Wall (Nick) is a guitar trainer. Mr. Chaplin (Julian) is a video director and editor. And the drummer, Connor MacArthur (Fabrizio Moretti), lately graduated from Toronto Metropolitan College.
Have they heard from the Strokes?
Not but. However they declare that Mr. Hammond had watched certainly one of their Instagram tales. And Mr. Traub-Rees hugged Mr. Casablancas onstage when he was performing with the Voidz at a Toronto membership. “I’m nonetheless looking for somebody who has footage,” he sighed.
Mr. Traub-Rees mentioned they sometimes hear from trolls.
“On the web and in social media feedback, folks say, ‘Hey, don’t you suppose it’s a bit of early for a Strokes cowl band?’” he mentioned. “Nicely, I’m sorry to inform these those who 20 years have passed by, however they’ve.”
Later that evening, after the Brokes completed acting at Arlene’s, some followers made the band members really feel like the actual factor as they mobbed them for autographs and selfies. Others purchased Brokes stickers and T-shirts from a merch desk. By the bar, a girl tried to get Mr. Chaplin’s quantity.
However with a protracted street forward of them the subsequent day — a six-hour drive to Buffalo to play their final tour date — the Brokes have been desperate to catch a number of hours’ sleep at their Airbnb in Elizabeth, N.J. And their day jobs awaited them on Monday.
Whereas his bandmates lugged gear again into the Dodge Caravan, Mr. Bedard, now sporting studying glasses, had a smoke outdoors the venue.
“Enjoying right here tonight, that felt just like the New York I’d all the time romanticized,” he mentioned. “That was a pleasure taking part in to these folks, seeing them get teleported.”
“Some musicians flip their nostril up at taking part in in a tribute band, however I feel we’re an anti-cynical act,” he added. “The irony is that the Strokes all the time had the last word frosty ‘too cool’ angle. They by no means wished to grow to be icons. However we’re completely satisfied to play for his or her followers on phases three hundred and sixty five days a yr in the event that they don’t wish to.”
