Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young

Rating

: * * * *

Verdict

:

Strokes' frontman experiments with solidarity, and goes a bit wild.

Dip into the album for a few seconds and

Phrazes for the Young

seems like a return of The Strokes - because Casablancas' rusty croon is such a defining component of the band's sound - but hang on for a little longer and you'll find it is actually quite removed, quite experimental.

Opening with

Out of the Blue

and moving through to

11th Dimension

Casablancas gives many of the Strokes' fans what they have been waiting for - a deep evocative anthem to grin and wave their arms to.

Who knew that when the faux bad-boy shed his garage-rock skin he would rip right into pop? It only lasts a few songs. Then, shaking himself from the confines of that legendary band, Casablancas rolls out stilted electronic accompaniments that hark back to the 80s - such a confusing era - at the same time as throwing the album into a box for artistic and sensitive males of the future.

It's a varied album: Casablancas takes us along a droning, lolling, lone-cowboy vein, broken by bursts of instrumental riffs, because he can, and loads his lyrics with alternative meaning.

There are a few stilted test drives on the album but overall Casablancas delivers a clever mix between something deep and brooding and electronically melodic. It sounds like Phraze one for a solo Casablancas.

Jacqueline Smith