Album · Julian Casablancas
Phrazes for the Young by Julian Casablancas
Phrazes for the Young is an album by Julian Casablancas, released in 2009. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 10 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Out of the Blue”, on 5 lists with a best position of #57.
Phrazes for the Young, Julian Casablancas' first solo album, arrived in November 2009 while the Strokes were on hiatus, released through his own new Cult Records label via RCA and Rough Trade. He cut its eight songs that year in New York City, Los Angeles and Omaha, Nebraska, with Jason Lader and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes producing, and the result swaps the Strokes' tangle of wiry guitars for synth-pop gloss, with that familiar bored-genius croon floating over the top. "11th Dimension" is the giddy peak, all neon hooks and sugar-rush synths.
The title nods to Oscar Wilde's "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young", and his dog Balki made the cover. Critics mostly liked it. Casablancas himself later admitted he'd played it too safe, holding back his stranger ideas for fear people wouldn't take them seriously, and that the record got pigeonholed as his answer to the Strokes.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Phrazes for the Young on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Out of the Blue | 5 | #57 | – | 2009–2010 | |
| 2 | 11th Dimension | 5 | #65 | – | 2009–2019 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.