Phrazes For The Young-Julian Casablancas

Phrazes For The Young by Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes, is a futuristic pop disc with elements of soul, and country. It features his unique songwriting style and lyrics about the future and the uncertainty that comes with it. Released in 2009, I decided to revisit this album after a lot of time off.

River Of Brake Lights- Starting out with a polyrhythmic drum beat over keyed synths; the track escalates when Casablancas croons, "We might be in for a late night, stuck in a lava flow of brake lights."As the drum beat pounds in the background, the synthesizers twist and swirl around one another until it reaches a pulsing climax shortly after a video-game esque breakdown. "Like batteries we die, like rivers we dry. Refuel and recharge, that's humans and cars." Casablancas screams over layers of well crafted electro synth goodness. Overall this is a very good track and one that will be more rewarding with repeat listens. --80/100

11th Dimension- The first single off of Phrazes, 11th Dimension was anything but what I was expecting. To go from the style that The Strokes have to this is a big leap, but one that Mr. Casablancas makes successfully. From the opening synth bars you will quickly realize that this is unlike anything he has done before. The background melody is instantly appealing. As the song builds towards the chorus, strumming guitars and another complicated drumbeat take center stage. As Casablancas wails "Drop your guard, you don't have to be smart all of the time." the song makes a slight shift towards the futuristic. After a miniature breakdown, which sees nothing but a heartbeat like drum beat with clingy guitars, it busts back into the chorus with its sweeping synth sounds. Immediately catchy yet infinitely listenable, this song is one of the highlights of the album. --90/100

Out Of The Blue- "Somewhere along the way, my hopefulness turned to sadness. Somewhere along the way my sadness turned to bitterness. Somewhere along the way my bitterness turned to anger, somewhere along the way my anger turned to vengeance." It has been long speculated that there were lyrics in this song directed towards his band mates in The Strokes. "And the ones that I made pay, were never the ones who deserved it. Those who helped me along the way, I smacked them as I thanked them." Out Of The Blue is the most Strokes-like song on the disc, with its heavy rhythm guitars and up-tempo drums drawing from the best of the Is This It days. This song is interesting because when performed live, his backing band uses four guitars. Everything comes into focus when Casablancas lustfully sings "How could you be so perfect for me?" over a nicely done chorus. Fans of the Strokes should look here as a starting point, but shouldn't expect any similarity on the album beyond this song. --83/100

Left and Right In The Dark- With its Rod Stewart style intro, the song quickly turns from simple pop to a song about the cataclysmic doom Casablancas sees us heading for. "And it's not gonna take all day long, watching the urban decay all around us, oh boy. And I’m on my way, oh, somewhere. Feels like I’m going left and right in the dark." This pop gem is finely crafted and created, somewhat of a trademark of Casablancas'. As the song fades into nothing, it suddenly bursts back to remind the listener to pay attention. --83/100

Tourist- Starting with a hip-hop like backing beat, Casablancas shows his composing skills on this song. The lyrical content of the song is geared towards Casablancas feeling out of place wherever he goes, saying that "Feel like a tourist out in the country, once this whole world was all country side. Feel like a tourist in the big city, soon that will simply evaporate." This song is propelled by its drumbeat as well as the several simple yet sweet guitar licks in the background. Julian supplies another big chorus and he once again finds a way to keep things familiar yet unlike anything you've ever heard. He sprinkles in some keyboard and French horn for good measure. He ties the songs theme into a pretty bow with the last line "Everywhere I go I’m a tourist, but if you stay with me, I'll always be at home", and you can hear the soulfulness in his voice. --80/100

4 Chords Of The Apocalypse- Casablancas does funk/country on this track. While interesting enough, it's the least gratifying and tends to drag a little. I'm also not a huge fan of the chorus. "Our time is over, don't you know that if a time warp was open, I'd stay right in my place." One strong point in the surging guitar solo about halfway through the song. I can appreciate the effort Casablancas but into the song, but it ultimately falls just short of the quality of the rest of the tracks on the album. --62/100

Ludlow St.- The into starts with a synth and drum beat that flows into a folk like song equipped with a mandolin and a driving drum beat. I feel like Casablancas flexes his muscle here and he really outdoes himself. Once again, not the catchiest song on the disk but it is worth the extra listens. Perhaps talking about his past struggles with alcohol, Julian croons "Everything seems to go wrong when I stop drinking. Everything seemed to go my way last night. Everything seemed so wrong to me this morning, I know things will be brighter later tonight." just before the song takes off into the chorus. Nice breakdowns ensue with more horns that really give this song an old time feel while still escaping the feeling that you've heard it before. --76/100

Glass- This is without question the best song on the album. Starting out with an awesome hip-hop drumbeat, the song evolves into a mash up of beautiful synths and massive vocals. This is the best example of his songwriting abilities. Once again back with another large chorus, the layers of synthesizers that can be heard are almost overwhelming at first. On this track Casablancas makes it sounds easy as he shows of his newfound vocal range when he hits the falsetto on the line "Bulletproof glass, you really need it now", which perfectly meshes with the awesome guitar solo shortly after. Stripping it down towards the end where only the drumbeat and basic synth remain, he carefully adds the instruments back in for one final time at the end to tie the album together nicely. This song is highly recommended to anyone who not only listens to but also analyzes music. --86/100

FINAL SCORE---80/100