I think the reason people are so excited by this record is because Julian Casablancas is The Strokes. He's the icon of the iconic group. And it's been a long time since the collective's done anything (coming up four years). Because of this, it's easy to be disillusioned by the idea of a Casablancas solo, because there's a desire for the twenty-year-old Strokes who loved Lou Reed and Blondie (and made records to reflect it) to be resurrected. In all honesty, that sound was slowly lost over the three albums they've already put out and will probably never be again.
What we've got now is the thirty-year-old Strokes, who have sobered up on many levels. They're no longer drunk on Red Stripe and Velvet Underground vinyls, which was what made them so cool to begin with. Time will tell if they ever resurface again.
What we've got now is the thirty-year-old Strokes, who have sobered up on many levels. They're no longer drunk on Red Stripe and Velvet Underground vinyls, which was what made them so cool to begin with. Time will tell if they ever resurface again.
So with this eight-song mess of electronic beats and auto-tune that is Phrazes for the Young, it's essential to account for the past but not to let it weigh heavily on the present. The thing is uncohesive. Plain and simple. There's seemingly endless types of styles under depressing lyrics without any sort of thread tying them all together. Long gone are the untouched guitar and, most awful of all, the rawness of his vocals, something that defines Casablancas musically.
The most interesting track is probably Four Chords of the Apocalypse. It seamlessly loops around gospel-inspired verses, a singer-songwriter classic sounding chorus and a metal-esque guitar bridge. But at the same time, this is the oddball track of the album: the electro is toned down to the minimum and the vocals seem less warped. If only the rest of Phrazes could follow its cue.
The most interesting track is probably Four Chords of the Apocalypse. It seamlessly loops around gospel-inspired verses, a singer-songwriter classic sounding chorus and a metal-esque guitar bridge. But at the same time, this is the oddball track of the album: the electro is toned down to the minimum and the vocals seem less warped. If only the rest of Phrazes could follow its cue.
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