'' Is This It '' was released in Australia on July 30 , 2001 to capitalize on the Strokes ' recent tour of the country . The record was streamed on Australian websites by the band 's distributor BMG and remained available for listening even after the CD release . Geoff Travis , head of the Strokes ' UK label Rough Trade , commented that the Australian continent had " special dispensation " and that an export ban was put in place to ensure no interferences with release plans in the rest of the world . The Japanese release date of August 22 was timed to occur after two one-off shows by the band at the Summer Sonic Festival , while the UK release of August 27 coincided with the Reading and Leeds Festivals . The September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City postponed the group 's '' CMJ '' Music Marathon performance , and shifted RCA 's US release of '' Is This It '' from September 25 to October 9 . A newly recorded song , " When It Started " , replaced " New York City Cops " on the CD version of the album after the Strokes witnessed the " valiant response " of the city 's police department during the tragedy . The vinyl release retained the original track list
September 11 terrorist attacks
September 11 attacks
Is This It