Julian Casablancas’ solo debut is an 8-song, 40-minute collection. On first glance the brevity makes the protracted promotional campaign — its preview trailer, dramatically cut onscreen interview with its lofty claims of trying to harness “the power and seriousness of classical music” while “captur(ing) the catchiness of modern music,” and sanctioned snippet stream — seem oddly out of place. Of course, people are so hungry for new Strokes material, that the pre-release hype’s inevitable. That, and Casablancas shoves so much into Phrazes For The Young, it has enough ideas for three albums twice its size. Unlike the ADD “River Of Breaklights” suggested with its weird arpeggios, breakneck beats and sudden shifts, the collection’s (mostly) tastefully done, things falling more into the realm of the chipper (almost ballpark synthesized) “11th Dimension,” maybe the best song on the collection. We still have lots of dissecting to do, but so far it’s the most interesting of the Strokes members’ solo projects. (Sorry, Nikolai.)
After a few seconds of tinny drum hits and moody synth washes, the album locates a more compelling momentum with “Out Of The Blue”‘s opening lines: “Somewhere along the way my hopefulness turned to sadness / Somewhere along the way my sadness turned to bitterness / somewhere along the way my bitterness turned to anger.” Then we get to vengeance and beyond: “Yes, I know I’m going to hell in a leather jacket / But at least I’ll be in another world while you’re pissing in my casket.” On Phrazes Casablancas mixes that punk attitude with a giddy sense of possibility: “Out Of The Blue” is reminiscent of JC’s day-job band despite the electronics. “Last Night” re-imagined as synth-pop? Not quite, but not entirely wrong.
Most of the songs are close to (or over) 5 minutes and none end up where they begin. “Left & Right In The Dark” layers rolling synth and dub-like guitar splashes with a driving guitar, electronic drums, and Casablancas’s urgently catchy lyrics about urban decay. “4 Chords Of The Apocalypse” opens like a down-and-out ballad with soulful organs before making a John Lennon nod and turning into a psychedelic blues rock ‘n’ synth anthem. They all have a way of doing that — moving with twists and turns and ending on high notes.
The most appealing track — after a few listens — is “Ludlow St.,” a laid-back Dylan-esque ramble which goes back to the Lenape tribe of 1624 to discuss how those “yuppies” continued to “invade” downtown New York. You could argue that Casblancas is three decades late, but there’s more here than by-the-books gentrification in the song’s woozy (and literally boozy) waltz: “Soon we’ll all get pushed out / as soon as I get sober / I remember why I drank it all away.” He also notes: “All my fantasies died when you said yours / I have dangled my pride to forget yours,” etc. We hear about musicians who will haunt it some day, how it’s hard to move along, but that the nightlife rages. It’s about the protagonist’s comfort zone more than it is about the city’s. (Plus it includes a banjo solo and a weird Native America meets ’70s sci-fi intro.) Much of Phrazes has this personal angle: Even amid the galloping darkness of “River Of Brakelights” you get truly moving singing.
Time again, even with all the instruments, it really is that voice that does most of the work: “Glass” has the icy feel of Bat For Lashes’ song of the same title, but this moves into more straightforward anthemics. You wouldn’t be faulted for hearing some Radiohead in the falsetto. The closer “Tourist” has some sort of carnival-meets-Bach vibe: Here, maybe tying into the “Ludlow St.” thing, he “feels like a tourist in the big city,” much like we still feel kinda lost in these songs’ layers.
These are substantial compositions. (They’re a bit reminiscent of Jeremy Enigk’s solo work in their baroque one-man-feeling structures.) We haven’t listened enough to get entirely to the bottom of them, but they are appealing. Of course folks will complain about the general brevity of the collection, but the more you listen to Phrazes For The Young, the more you realize these songs open and expand as they get older. Take your time with it. Hell, considering reports that the guys are currently having a disagreement about the direction of the new collection, this may very well be the most Strokes-esque album you get for a while.
Phrazes For The Young is out 11/3 via Cult/RCA. There’ll be a box set version out 12/18 that’ll include the album on CD and vinyl plus a DVD of Casblancas doing the songs acoustically, a disc of demos/B-Sides, posters, and a 48-page book that contains the man’s signature, etc. No word on the dog.
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Some of us kinda wish you guys at Stereogum would let your pre-mature evaluations mature just a little longer before you jump the gun and lead us on the wrong path.
With only eight tracks for his first solo work, this better be as interesting as anything done by the rest of his peers. I’ll be listening.
i reckon it’s gonna be a total GROWER like how Skeletal Lamping was
You know those movies with the trailers that you see so many times before it comes out that you think it’s already been released and forgotten? Same here. Thought this was released forever ago.
Don’t be stupid. Little Joy is so much better than this… Julian made these songs with his old Casio Tone Bank that papa gave to him in the sixth anniversary…
lol that by far is most accurate remark I’ve heard about Julian Casablancas’ solo work. +1 for you good sir.
All the cool kids know that Nickel Eye is the best of the Strokes side projects.
first time i heard tourist i got chills
This album gets better and better with every listen. It’s one you won’t be able to turn off. No lie.
julian is a total bad-ass
I hope this rivals little joy which is great. for those keeping score, albert’s stuff is pretty good but uneven and nikolai is terrible.
Wait, was he on the Twilight soundtrack?
I just nod at this album. Cause I’VE NEVER BEEN TOO GOOD AT SHAKING HANDS
Julian’s effort has officially overtaken MPP.
Sorry but no. This albums pretty good though. Sometimes the synths can get crowded and the arrangements feel a little cluttered. But it’s definitely a solid album and much better than Little Joy
It’s good
The album is awesome and it’s one of the most unique/progressive works I’ve heard in a while. I don’t see how you could even compare it to Little Joy. They’re not even in the same realm of music. Both are great in their own respect. As for the reviewer, he/she claims, “Most of the songs are close to (or over) 5 minutes and none end up where they begin”. Ludlow St. literally ends the same way it begins, so I wouldn’t give too much credence to their opinion. Bottom line: this album is really impressive and illustrates, just as each of the other solo albums did (except perhaps Nikolai’s), why the strokes are so good. Here’s to hoping they get their act together…in the mean time Julian better tour other places then just CA
What’s unique +/or progressive about this??
Really enjoyable though.
ok i guess brakelights is pretty interesting. but other than that, it’s mostly just blues/pop with synths…
Technically, I wouldn’t say Casablancas has revolutionized music with this album, even though there is some terrific baroque experimentation in certain areas (not that it matters). I got the same good feeling when I first heard Room On Fire. It somehow sounds familiar and new at the same time. In the words of Casablancas himself, it’s hard to explain. Needless to say, I’m very much enjoying this solo effort.
I’m having my own kind of premature evaluation in that I can’t stop replaying the first song, Out of the Blue, over and over and over – when I like something this much, I like it to never end, kind of like…oh well – extremely happy, and extremely happy for Julian Casablancas, on what’s shaping up to be a great album and great close to 09 year in music.
It’s actually kind of ironic how Julian is part of closing not only the year but the decade where him and the rest of the guys welcomed the decade way back in ’01 with ‘This Is It’.
“Can’t you see I’m trying… I don’t even like it… I just lied to get to your apartment…”
This gets better every time I listen to it. Jules has just reminded me why Is This It was so great-because he wrote most of it. If there isn’t another Strokes record I’ll be fine with that and the memories as long as this man keeps making music.
This album’s really growing on me. I like it. And I’ve really missed hearing Julian’s voice on stuff.
This album is definitely a grower. First listen, you can tell there’s something special, but all the elements are a bit overwhelming. Your brain might feel a bit muddled and you might not have the energy to listen to it again. It takes a bit of patience to let it all sink in. If you’re a lazy listener, you’re not going to get Phrazes. At all.
I’ve had the album for about a week now, and I have to say that it gets better with ever listen. At this point, I’m a bit afraid that I’ll wear the album out before it’s legitimately released because honestly, this is the only thing that has passed through my ears recently.
A+ album. Julian is obviously the most talented out of the Strokes.
there really is something pretty good goin on here. i can’t help but think it starts to lose a bit of its momentum by track 5 or 6, but the opening 3 songs are really probably the strongest first 3 i’ve heard this year
Album of the year very easily in my opinion. Such a talented bloke, and just oozing with cool – he has embarrassed every other release since MGMT apart from Bon Iver, Mastodon and Friendly Fires. Six out of the 8 choruses here are mind blowers. Lets hope we soon get out of the Grizzly Bear/Animal Collective/Deerhunter rut – these acts bore my head off. We want songs – and we want ones to singalong to and to dance to. Hopefully this album triggers a change in the indie scene
Just streamed the record on Julian’s myspace page – think Phrazes might be one worth buying. Great vibe throughout the whole album.
Should I give my opinion, I would say that the synths scared me at first, but am enjoying the fear and the thrills as much as the one’s “whole lotta love” provoked me the first time I heard it… I agree with the idea that this album deserves being heard many times and requires peeling to reach the bottom.
Anyhow, this album reminded me why I got so jealous when I got to know of Julian’s affair with Courtney Love…
Sol, don’t be jealous. That never happened. Courtney Love just wrote a song about him.