Aaron Taos – “Under Control” (Feat. Jordana) (The Strokes Cover)

Last last year, singer-songwriter Jordana released her EP I’m Doing Well, Thanks For Asking. Since then she’s teamed up with tourmates Inner Wave for the one-off single “Baby,” and she’s released her version of Coldplay’s “Sparks.” Now, Jordana has teamed up with Aaron Taos, another DIY indie-popper based in New York, to cover a Strokes classic.

Aaron Taos released his album Birthday Boy in 2019, and now he and Jordana have gotten together to cover “Under Control,” the elegantly sozzled deep cut from the Strokes’ 2003 sophomore album Room On Fire. “Under Control is a remarkably malleable song; last year, Fleet Foxes and Blood Orange both happened to play radically different versions of the track at different New York shows. (Fleet Foxes just released theirs.) In their version, Aaron Taos and Jordana turn it into a whispery, casual bedroom-pop duet. In their video, they hang out on New York rooftops with their CD copy of Room On Fire.

Here’s what Aaron Taos says about the cover:

When Jordana and I met for the first time, we realized very quickly that we both shared an obsession with the Strokes. What’s more surprising is that we also share the same favorite Strokes song, “Under Control,” an album cut off of their second LP Room On Fire. Naturally, we decided that we had to cover this amazing tune. Reimagined as a minimalist duet, this slow burn produced by Blake Richardson (formerly artist Sage Baptiste) also comes with a lo-fi vid shot in Brooklyn, NY. We just want to make Julian Casablancas proud.

Below, watch the video for the Aaron Taos/Jordana version of “Under Control” and listen to the Strokes’ original.