connected with producer Gordon Raphael

The band began rehearsing a 14-song set (an early blueprint of the Strokes’ 2001 debut, Is This It ), including “Alone, Together”, “Barely Legal”, ” Last Nite “, “The Modern Age”, “New York City Cops”, “Soma”, ” Someday “, “Take It or Leave It”, and “This Life” (an early version of “Trying Your Luck”). Most of these songs now feature different lyrics. The band connected with producer Gordon Raphael in 2000 following a show at Luna Lounge and made a demo, The Modern Age EP , with him. The band sent the demo to the newly reformed Rough Trade Records in the UK, sparking interest there, and leading to their first release (via the website of the UK magazine, NME , who gave away a free MP3 download of ” Last Nite ” a week prior to the physical release as part of The Modern Age EP in 2001). The EP sparked a bidding war among record labels, the largest for a rock band in years. In August 2001, the Strokes made their first appearance on the cover of the publication The Fader in its ninth issue.