
To Julian Casablancas, it must seem as if the whole world’s gone crazy: the hip kids are either in sweaters and boat shoes or tie-dyes and Tevas (Animal Collective totally wear Tevas). As the second terrific available song off Casablancas’s November 3 solo disc, Phrazes for the Young confirms, he’s still all about the black-leather cool. Or maybe it’s black-latex cool: musically, the dark, clanking “River of Brakelights” shares something with industrial music. Spiritually, it’s pure Strokes — if the Strokes were ever spiritual: It’s the story of a night gone wrong with a chick who, probably, seemed so right. If that sounds like a far cry from industrial-style dystopia, consider that they’re stuck in traffic, maybe even on the BQE. There’s something to put notions of progress behind you.
Julian Casablancas’s Sex Is On FireThings you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.