photo by Linda Janota

Let me just be clear: I make fun of the Strokes. Or, I made fun of the Strokes, back when anyone cared (did anyone ever care?). I did it openly, fondly, and mockingly. Now, I’m not saying that any of the guys in the Strokes aren’t perfectly lovely people, I’m sure they are! I don’t know. I can’t know everyone, people. I’m just saying that their music was, to me, ridiculous. However, me, I love me some reckless rock n roll. It’s true. So frontman Julian Casablancas, formerly of Strokes fame, has headed out on his own solo career launching a full tour and EP. He’s worked with the Lonely Island crew (cred where cred is due, proper.) and something about Santogold, Pharrel, and him doing a commercial? But for Chuck Taylors, which we all know are pretty much the best shoe to wear like, ever, and it’s actually a pretty good jam! So, the props, they are being built. Or whatever you do with props (don’t drop them?).

Out of sheer curiosity and hope that this might be kind of good, maybe, this brave L.A. Record Soldier went (by herself! looking dangerously foxy!) to a Julian Casablancas show.

 Wow. The crowd was there (in the most beautiful place ever, the Downtown Palace. If you find out that there’s a show booked there, go just for the energetic joy of the place. It’s gooooorgeous) in spades to support him. And me, again, I love the rock n roll, and I love a dance party.  The album Phrazes for the Young which he’s recently released is a completely different tack from guitars and amps and glitter and gold. It’s more of the bedroom electronica made by oneself out of synths, pedals, boredom, and a desire to keep the musical torch burning. Although there was maybe a bit of shakiness from going solo or performing a completely different kind of produced sound from before, Casablancas put on a good show. His lyrics are stripped down and honest, and the music is kind of perfect for the Friday night drive to your best party in your best getout. But whether or not he can pull off this kind of act, which is created in solitude but ultimately for a crowd of several hundred partiers, I’m not so sure about. If one were to compare, say, Daft Punk, or LCD Soundsystem, The Knife, or Ratatat, in a live setting I would say, humbly, that Julian Casablancas is in a whole other game now. The crowd needs lights, projections, and sheer energy that transcends the power of pedals, moogs and laptops. If he wants to keep up, he’ll need back-up.

—Chesney Higgins

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