The Strokes rumoured to have sights for Ireland

Hot Press has it on very good authority that The Strokes will play Ireland in early 2004 as part of their European tour.

The band will be plugging the proverbial out of Room On Fire, their second album which is due through Rough Trade on October 20.

Recorded in New York with Gordon Raphael producing, the opus features 'What Ever Happened?', 'Reptilia', 'Automatic Stop', 'You Talk Way Too Much', 'Between Love & Hate', 'Meet Me In The Bathroom', 'Under Control', 'The End Has No End', 'The Way It Is', 'I Can't Win' and lead single '12:51'.

Talking to Billboard about the ethos of the record, Julian Casablancas says: "If you're in a bar and a certain song comes on and the vibe is just different, it evokes the kinds of things that you want to feel, and if music can do that it's a very special thing. It's those sorts of feelings that we kind of play with, but there's a lot of chance of failing."

As for its retro flavour, the singer adds: "For us it's important not to fuck up what other generations have given to us. The whole point is doing something with what we've got and I don't think we play with that lightly. We're normal people, we're not super serious artists, but we take what we do very seriously."