The Strokes - Last Nite

What this video is

Released October 23, 2001 — weeks after 9/11 — 'Last Nite' arrived at a moment of profound cultural dislocation in New York City, the band's home. The video's deliberate, stripped-back aesthetic stood in stark opposition to the hyperproduced pop and nu-metal videos dominating MTV at the time. Roman Coppola's decision to simulate a 1970s broadcast TV performance anchored the clip in a nostalgic, pre-spectacle rock…

Why it matters

A landmark document of the early-2000s garage rock revival, 'Last Nite' and its video crystallized the Strokes' anti-production aesthetic into a replicable cultural template. The performance-only, single-set video format — intentionally low-budget and live-feeling — became a reference point for…

The director

Roman François Coppola (born April 22, 1965, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and music video director. Son of Francis Ford Coppola, he founded The Directors Bureau production company and earned Grammy and MTV VMA…