Musicians usually react to melodic pilfering with legal notices, public spats, or stony silence. Modern English, by contrast, seem content to have a laugh about it. In a short social media exchange, frontman Robbie Grey and bassist Michael Conroy recently pointed out how neatly The Strokes helped themselves to their 1982 signature tune, I Melt With You, when assembling their 2020 single Bad Decisions.
The discussion surfaced through an Instagram video posted by Modern English, paired with a tongue-in-cheek caption claiming they have beef with the New York quintet. The topic came up when Conroy recalled a conversation with the band Mom Jeans, who had asked him whether he was familiar with The Strokes. Grey chuckled at the question, remarking that he had heard them about thirty years ago, before adding that they had ripped off I Melt With You. Conroy agreed with the call, pointing out that one specific song completely lifted from the British post-punk group's famous single.
Modern English made sure to clear the air right away. The accompanying text confirmed that they were only joking and still love the New York band. Even so, the musical overlap was not imagined. When Bad Decisions appeared on The Strokes' 2020 full-length, The New Abnormal, listeners immediately picked up on how much the central guitar parts pulled from the bright, upbeat momentum of I Melt With You. Many also detected clear echoes of The Clash and their 1979 track Lost in the Supermarket running through the track.
Modern English never collected any formal credit on the sleeve, however. Official publishing royalties for Bad Decisions went elsewhere, specifically to Billy Idol and Tony James. The Strokes granted the pair songwriting credits because the song's melodic structure heavily borrows from Idol's 1981 hit, Dancing With Myself. Wrapped in Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting Bird On Money, The New Abnormal leaned hard into those early eighties post-punk and new wave touchstones, filtering them through the group's familiar indie rock formula.
While Modern English look back on that connection with good humor, The Strokes are occupied with an extensive 2026 touring calendar backing their seventh studio album, Reality Awaits, which arrived in June. Their worldwide concerts have introduced several fresh cuts to the stage for the first time. The band debuted Lonely In The Future at Summer Sonic Tokyo, gave Going To Babble On its first live run at Just Like Heaven, and slipped Tyrants Of The Mellow Moon into their performance at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood.
The Strokes continue through North America this month before crossing over to the UK and Ireland in October. That run includes two concerts at London's O2 arena, alongside shows in Newcastle, Manchester, and Dublin. Whether the band ever mention the melodic similarities from the stage seems unlikely, but Grey and Conroy appear perfectly pleased to treat the lift as a funny historical footnote.
