| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
$10.99 CD
|
|
JULIAN CASABLANCAS
Phrazes for the Young
(RCA)
 "11th Dimension"
"Ludlow St."
Let's start by making it clear that the Strokes are what I would call a classic Other Music band; we sold their self-released EP on consignment, we've seen them play everywhere from the Mercury Lounge to the Garden, and their gold album (Is This It) hangs on our wall. Maybe their sound was never quite adventurous enough to exemplify the soul of the Other Music aesthetic, but in their prime this was a great band, and I was a fan. As we all know, in rock and roll, as in life, things don't always work out quite as we plan, and after a pretty great debut album that thrust them into the international spotlight, the Strokes never quite delivered on their promise. Their second and third albums each sold half as much as the previous, and I'd say my interest in them took a similar path. Meaning, in reality, that by the time they dropped the lackluster First Impressions of Earth in 2006, I didn't care at all. One listen was about all it got from me, and I think that was true for many of their fans.
Since then, the group has been on some sort of a hiatus, supposedly working on their fourth album, but also supposedly squabbling over creative control, struggling for direction, and one by one releasing solo albums, to mixed artistic and commercial success. As the frontman of the band, and the sole songwriter of their best material (including the entirety of the debut), Julian Casablancas’ Phrazes for the Young must surely be the most hotly anticipated of the lot. And especially as word began to leak out that this would be his "electro" album, maybe particularly because that concept sounded so dangerously suspect, I had to hear it. I have heard the record, and if you are (or were) a Strokes fan, you should too; some will love it, some will not, some will be thrilled and some will be bored -- again, as life itself can be endlessly perplexing, there is no quick and simple answer to the questions this one offers up (first off, "is it good?").
Despite the swooping synth runs, the cheesy Casio-style drums and the measured retro-future posturing, Phrazes for the Young is a remarkably Strokesian album. Casablacas' bored croon holds these songs together, and his chronic detachment is in fine form, probably improved really, with bitterness or joy creeping in at the corners that was often bereft from his previous vocalizations. Mostly these are pulsing mid-tempo rockers, and there is, in fact, plenty of guitar chug to many of them, not just synth-pop pulse. At its best, like on the set-opening "Out of the Blue," or the slinky electro-anthem single "11th Dimension," there is a strut and undeniable hook to these songs that is utterly embracing, and when the chorus finally comes, as on the single with Casablancas magnanimously imploring "Forgive them, even if they are not sorry, all the vultures and bootleggers at the door waiting," it's hard not to sing along.
At other times though, the album meanders, and is mired in our prep-school heroes' self-involved theatrics; I can appreciate Casablancas enjoying his newfound sobriety, but it's a tough subject to sing about, especially as he starts bitching about the gentrification of the Lower East Side on "Ludlow St.," as if he himself wasn't a part of the problem -- he surely can't claim to be part of the lost "real" L.E.S. Regardless, there are enough high points here, and a few tracks that measure up to the Strokes best -- though that begs the question of why they were not saved for the elusive fourth Strokes album. But that's not our problem, not now at least. For the moment, I will be content to turn up my favorite songs, which is more than I can offer most albums. [JM]
Order CD by Texting "omcdjulianphrazes" to 767825 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
