Julian Casablancas: Phrazes for the Young

RCA

Back when the leather jacket-clad Strokes first came on the scene in the late ’90s it was easy to dismiss them as a proverbial flash in the pan. That was until three albums later we were all still listening. With a handful of Strokes members now pursuing other creative endeavors—and no promise of a new album in the near future—many fans secretly anticipated the next move of charismatic frontman Julian Casablancas whose reckless, alcohol-fueled live show antics were memorable and whose gravelly, soulful voice was dearly missed. Well fans, the wait it over—and it was well worth it. On his smashing solo debut Phrazes for the Young, Casablancas abandons the paint-by-numbers garage-rock aesthetic of The Strokes and replaces it with eight eclectic tracks that chronicle the life of a maturing musician who’s wide-eyed tendencies have transitioned to bitterness as he sings on the pop-laden opener “Out of the Blue.” While Casablancas still believes that he’s “going to hell in a leather jacket” it’s clear that on Phrazes for the Young his catchy pop is now filled with sonic—and emotional—complexity.