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Whenever Casablancas strains for seriousness, the album loses focus....When he concentrates on making pop music, however, Phrazes for the Young is a blast.
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A few songs have the old leather-jacket kick, but things get weirder as he explores alienation from a Lower East Side he once ruled.
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Q Magazine'Ludow St' is lyrically smart, musically ambitious, more than any other track on Phrazes, it makes you wonder, if not regret, why the Strokes themselves never pushed the boat out this far. For that reason alone, it was worth Casablancas making this intriguing if imperfect record. [Nov 2009, p.98]
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The irony is that Phrazes for the Young is so smoothed over--nearly all of Casablancas' trademark vocal roughness is airbrushed into oblivion--it instantly sounds like a plexiglass-covered museum piece.
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With the Strokes, Casablancas exploits the tension between his behind-the-beat, just-woke-up vocals and the band’s hurtling rhythms. On Phrazes, the slower-moving tempos match the unhurried pace of his distinctive croon, and the melodies and arrangements aren’t strong enough to make up for the loss in urgency.
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If it were anyone else, this record would be fine. Solid. Entertaining. But it's not anyone else--Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes. As such, you look for more and expect to tune in to find Julian doing the same.
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It's not all awful, and it's certainly not Gene Simmons doing "When You Wish Upon A Star," but it sure ain't the Strokes, either.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 80 out of 88
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Mixed: 3 out of 88
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Negative: 5 out of 88
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Feb 26, 2018
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Nov 28, 2017
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Oct 30, 2014