Modern English accuses The Strokes of plagiarism on 'Bad Decisions'

British new wave band Modern English have publicly stated that The Strokes copied their iconic 1982 hit "I Melt With You" for the song "Bad Decisions," the second single from the 2020 album "The New Abnormal." The band shared a video clip on Instagram with the caption "We have beef with the Strokes," humorously calling out the similarities between the two songs.

The conversation shown in the video was sparked by a wonderfully ordinary moment. Bassist Michael Conroy explains that a member of the band Mom Jeans had asked the day before whether Modern English knew The Strokes. That led to a good natured exchange in which singer Robbie Grey replied "Yeah, about 30 years ago," before adding "They actually ripped off I Melt With You." Conroy backed him up, saying "Yeah, they had a song and they completely ripped off I Melt With You." The caption made it clear pretty quickly that it was all in good fun though, adding "just kidding we still love them."

What makes the situation particularly interesting is that the writers of Billy Idol's 1981 classic "Dancing With Myself," namely Idol himself and Tony James, did receive a songwriting credit on "Bad Decisions," while Modern English are not mentioned. The resemblance to "I Melt With You" was already noted at the time: NME pointed it out in their 2020 review of "Bad Decisions," writing that the guitar melody contained a nod to the Modern English track alongside references to the likes of The Clash.

In the meantime, Strokes fans have plenty to look forward to. The New York band are currently on an extensive world tour in support of their seventh studio album "Reality Awaits," which came out in June. During recent shows they have already performed several new songs live for the first time, including "Lonely In The Future" at Summer Sonic Tokyo and "Going To Babble On" at the Just Like Heaven festival. "Tyrants Of The Mellow Moon" also received its live debut, at a show at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood.

There is good news for music fans in the Netherlands and Belgium too: after the North American leg of the tour this month, the band heads to the United Kingdom and Ireland in October. Those dates include two nights at the O2 in London, followed by shows in Newcastle, Manchester and Dublin. Whether European tour dates will follow has not been confirmed yet.