Phrazes For Young

Jules C. steps to the solo artist plate as ... Michael Jackson's tall, stoned, white hipster dude doppelganger? Okay, maybe that's something of a stretch (have you ever seen the guy on stage? He literally can not move!); but this, the Strokes' frontman's debut solo record, bares quite a few similarities to Jackson's seminal album, Thriller. Both records have short tracklists (Phrazes at eight tracks, Thriller at nine). Both records are full of long, elaborately produced songs. Both records mix dance music and cheesy keyboards with rock and soul music. Both records feel pretty darn paranoid at times. Both records took forever to write and record. Both records have that future retro feel to them. Many of the songs on both records have elaborate intros and, most importantly, both records are full of great hooks backed and fine production. 

Other than that, there's essentially nothing similar about the two records. No tiger on the cover of Phrazes, no lame cameos, no 90 billion copies sold. Mostly, what I'm saying here, is that Phrazes is a surprise - one that's sure to confuse fans (while also making new fans). That Jules is doing the retro thing is no surprise (that's his thing), but that he taking mostly from the sound of the 80s - as opposed to his usual 60s and 70s aping - is something of a blindside. And I like that. I like that he seems relevant again, even if his appeal is brand new. I like that he stood on Letterman's stage and tried to dance while debuting his fant-swear-world-tastic lead single, "11th Dimension."

Back when those Strokes were the band to love, follow, stalk and copy, Jules was in charge. The coolest charmed-as-hell rich boy to ever fake slum. He wrote the lyrics, he told his band mates how to play their parts and they listened. He was the Stroke. The talent. (Talking 2001 classic Is This It, here.) The band's second album, Room On Fire, though very good by normal standards, was rushed and, compared to their debut, a bummer. From there, well, things got messy. Egos. You know the story. Jules began to let Fab and those other Fabs contribute much more to the arranging, writing and recording process, and thus we had 2006's half-great First Impressions of Earth. Things haven't been the same since.

But now, with Phrazes, the hope is back. Julian is back at the controls and his stellar ability to make bulletproof pop songs is once again evident, even if the product is completely different. Sure, Phrazes has a few missteps, but, for the most part, it's the best thing from the Strokes camp since Is This It. Opener Out of the Blue sounds like Is This It with cleaned-up vocals and a little bit more rum in the coke. And keyboard. Always, when speaking of Phrazes, plenty of keyboards. There's even a very strong soul cut here with 4 Chords of the Apocalypse and one of the best pop songs of the year in closer Tourist - a song that opens with a misleadingly awful intro. In fact, the only real problem with Phrazes is the sometimes-cheesy intros. And River of Brakelights ... that song is no good.

I know what you're thinking: if you're gonna release an album with only eight songs in 2009, all eight had better be good. We like super-sized everything and we like it now. And I hear ya. But the seven worthwhile cuts here are all pretty darn epic. They're all longish and take a while to fully appreciate/digest - which will send this record right over the heads of most listeners. As is his reputation, Jules is a hard worker - not since the perfection of those early days has this attribute been so evident in his work. Casablancas worked long and hard on his Thriller, and, if you give it a few listens, you'll see that it's all worth it. Phrazes is not just a future retro blast of pop music, but one of the most interesting major label releases I've heard in quite some time.   8.75/10

Written by G. William Locke