Modern English Say The Strokes 'Completely Ripped Off' Their 1982 Hit
British band Modern English say The Strokes' 2020 single "Bad Decisions" "completely ripped off" their own 1982 signature track "I Melt With You." The band posted a new interview clip to Instagram captioned that they have "beef" with The Strokes — before adding "jk, we still love them" underneath. According to NME, the exchange took place in September 2026.
What was said in the interview
In the clip, bassist Michael Conroy recalls that the day before, another band, Mom Jeans, playing the same venue, asked them if they'd ever heard of The Strokes.
Singer Robbie Grey replied that he'd heard of them "about thirty years ago" and said The Strokes "ripped off 'I Melt With You.'" Conroy then added that one Strokes song "completely ripped off" the track.
The songwriting-credit dispute
"Bad Decisions" appears on The Strokes' 2020 album The New Abnormal. Its songwriting credits include Billy Idol and Tony James, writers of Idol's 1981 single "Dancing With Myself," but Modern English are not credited.
NME's own 2020 review of "Bad Decisions" noted the song's borrowings, describing its guitar hook as carrying echoes of The Clash's "Lost in the Supermarket" as well as paying tribute to Modern English's "I Melt With You," while the track is itself an openly reworked passage of "Dancing With Myself." NME gave The New Abnormal four stars at the time.
Where The Strokes' 2026 tour stands
The Strokes are currently touring behind their seventh album, Reality Awaits, released this past June. Along the way they've debuted new songs live for the first time, including "Lonely In The Future" at Summer Sonic in Tokyo, "Going To Babble On" at Just Like Heaven, and "Tyrants Of The Mellow Moon," which entered the setlist at a Hollywood Hard Rock Live show.
The Reality Awaits world tour continues across North America this month before moving to the UK and Ireland in October, with two nights at London's O2 plus stops in Newcastle, Manchester and Dublin. Full dates and remaining tickets are posted on the band's official channels. NME also gave Reality Awaits four stars.