Format CD
7" Length 3:39 | Recorded 2003 | |
B-side "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men" Released February 9, 2004 (2004-02-09) Genre Garage rock
indie rock
post-punk revival | ||
"Reptilia" is a song by indie rock band The Strokes, and the second single from their second album Room on Fire. The single's B-side contains "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men", where lead singer Julian Casablancas duets with Regina Spektor. The official release date was delayed slightly after Casablancas objected to the song being credited as "The Strokes and Regina Spektor", claiming that it should read "Regina Spektor and The Strokes".
In October 2011, NME placed it at number 129 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". Although it is not one of the band's highest charting singles since the song peaked at #19 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, it is still one of the band's most popular singles.
The song appeared in the video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Rock Band as well as the 2014 Volkswagen Golf Family ad. Progressive bluegrass band Punch Brothers performed a version of the song in May 2015 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.
The single cover depicts an alien from the video game Centipede.
Music video
The music video for the song was their first that was not directed by Roman Coppola. Instead they chose Jake Scott to shoot the video, which features close shots of the band members' faces, hands and instruments while performing the song. At the end of the video, Julian Casablancas blows smoke at the camera lens.