The Strokes released their classic debut, Is This It, in 2001. One year later, Interpol dropped their critically acclaimed debut Turn On The Bright Lights.

The two New York bands have been viewed as rivals ever since, and Interpol frontman Paul Banks backed that up in a recent interview with The Guardian.

"I still wish I was more bro-y with those guys. But it wasn't like: 'Hey my buddies the Strokes are doing really great', it was more like, 'Wait a minute, who the f--- is making music this good? And they're blowing up,'" Banks said. "The Strokes were apparently hanging out in exactly the same places I was but I didn't know any of them until everybody in England was, like, up their a--. Had never heard of them doing a gig."

Banks also brought up The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, another New York-based band, and made an interesting metaphor:

"[YYY guitarist] Nick Zinner knew people in my band, and he was part of a scene," Banks said. "But if you think of a lot of Internet companies rising up at the same time, they don't think of themselves as all in it together. They think, 'Oh my god, did you hear about those guys doing super-well? We've got to work on our craft.'"

Interpol's new album, El Pintor, is out this September, and they're set to hit the road for the following North American dates:

09/02: New York, NY @ The Temple of Dendur

09/04: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

09/15: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom

09/16: Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre

09/17: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom

09/19: Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades

09/20: Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater

09/22: Pomona, CA @ Fox Theater

09/24: San Diego, CA @ House of Blues

09/26: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot

09/27: Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

09/29: Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater

09/30: Tulsa, OK @ Cain's Ballroom

The band's North American tour runs through November. Click here for more dates.

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