Julian Casablancas: Phrazes For The Young

Well, no one’s going to mistake this for a Strokes album. Sure, Phrazes For The Young shares a voice with Julian Casablancas’ recently silent band, and occasionally it even shares The Strokes’ love of nervous energy and oddly angled hooks. But the building materials have changed, with Casablancas tiptoeing out of his ’70s CBGB comfort zone to bring in ’80s synths. And the voice has changed as well, both sonically and lyrically. Here Casablancas reaches beyond his familiar sneering readings to occasionally (gasp!) emote from the heart. “Somewhere along the way, my bitterness turned to anger,” he sings on the album-opener, “Out Of The Blue.” Emo it isn’t, but the sincerity still sounds shocking, considering the source.