 The commercial breakthrough from these scenes was led by four bands : the Strokes , who emerged from the New York club scene with their debut album Is This It ( 2001 ) ; the White Stripes , from Detroit , with their third album White Blood Cells ( 2001 ) ; the Hives , from Sweden , with their compilation album Your New Favourite Band ( 2001 ) ; and the Vines , from Australia , with Highly Evolved ( 2002 ) . Both the Strokes and the White Stripes obtained their initial commercial success in the UK , before achieving recognition in the US and elsewhere . They were christened by the media as the " The " bands , and dubbed " the saviours of rock ' n ' roll " , prompting Rolling Stone magazine to declare on its September 2002 cover , " Rock is Back ! " The attention in the press in turn led to accusations of hype , and some dismissed the scene as unoriginal , image @-@ conscious and tuneless . According to Simon Reynolds , " apart from maybe the White Stripes , none could really be described as retro " . 
