“He phoned me up at seven in the morning and played about ten seconds of the EP over the phone. That was the moment”: Twenty-five years ago, five rowdy New Yorkers released a three-song EP that changed the course of rock’n’roll

The Strokes in 2001.

For one type of guitar-based music fan, the sort that perhaps swerved V Festival and went to Ozzfest instead, the beginning of the 21^st century was very enjoyable indeed. Limp Bizkit, Korn, Papa Roach, Slipknot and other like-minded menaces had become huge. Nu-metal was a global phenomenon. Lucky you guys!

On the other side of the fence, things were pretty dire. Indie/rock’n’roll, call it what you will, was on its arse. Quite literally, in some cases, with new bands such as Turin Brakes taking to singing their whilst sitting on a stool. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a sit down. As a 44-year-old man, I love a sit down. But no musical movement has ever come about from sitting down.