Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young

I feel as if I have been waiting for this forever. The last Strokes album, First Impressions of Earth, came out in 2006, and came off as uneven and awkward, leaving me significantly less than satisfied. Not that I wanted them to keep being the garage rock revivalists of Is This It (2001), undoubtedly one of the most important albums of the 2000s, but the spark seemed to have been slowly slipping since Room on Fire, despite a handful of standout tunes from album #2 ("What Ever Happened?", "Reptilia", "12:51") and #3 ("You Only Live Once", "Juicebox", "Ask Me Anything"). In the meantime, rhythm guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. went on to release two lovely solo albums, Yours to Keep (2006) and ¿Cómo Te Llama? (2008), and more recently Julian Casablancas collaborated with Pharrell Williams and Santigold on "My Drive Thru" for the 100th anniversary of Converse's Chuck Taylor shoes and an announcement of the Strokes starting to work on material for their 4th studio album.

Here we have Julian Casablancas' solo album Phrazes for the Young. Based on the press-hype around the album and the fact that Casablancas has been again looking like the picture of cool for this generation, it's refreshing to hear that the sound meets, and exceeds, expectations.

Phrazes only contains 8 songs, each is 4 minutes+, making a distinct change from the short punch of many Strokes tracks - in fact, you wouldn't mistake this for a Strokes album at all. These are meandering, textured pieces. and while there is very much an 80s-inspired vibe here (read: The Cars), this album is yet another 2009 example of the trend towards unashamedly embracing both retro and futuristic-sounding electronics. The accusation that Casablancas' voice sounds "flat" and "deflated" (NYU News) is utterly bizarre; he sounds alive again, and, importantly, like he had fun making this album, with the danceable, near-tropical and joyous lead single "11th Dimension" as the perfect initial signal of this. Not that all is happy and poppy here; there is also that cocky sarcasm that had been characteristic of his previous work that creeps in now and again ("Yes, I know I'm going to hell in a leather jacket" - "Out of the Blue") and a definite darkness that dominates my favorite tracks here, the insistent, pulsating "River of Brakelights" and downright groovy "Tourist". The production, by Jason Lader and Bright Eyes/Monsters of Folk artist Mike Mogis, is slick and pretty overall, even shining through on otherwise average tracks like "Left & Right in the Dark" and "4 Chords of the Apocalypse". "Ludlow St." and "Glass" balance the album out with exceptionally gorgeous instrumentation and a dash of sadness.

First Impressions of Earth was a rocket heading towards Earth set to crash, and by contrast, as the opening effect of first track "Out of the Blue" clearly indicates, Phrazes for the Young is a UFO swirling around in space!