I have to admit that when I first watched the Warren Fu-directed trailer for Julian Casablancas’ forthcoming solo LP, The Phrazes for the Young (Cult/RCA), I grew slightly emo. What would high school have been like without my fake ID, The Strokes’ Is This It in my CD discman appended onto the dashboard of my ’89 Chrysler New Yorker, and all of that boxed wine I kept in the trunk? Perhaps seeing Julian Casablancas drunkenly ramble and howl on stage when I was fifteen had something to do with why I wanted to move to New York, where every guy is hot, has long hair, wears black motorcycle jackets—and seemingly plays in The Strokes. 

Well, six years later, here we are. Julian is going solo and I’m still captive to his melodic, metronomic spell. How this resurgence will play out when The Strokes release their long-awaited follow-up to 2005’s First Impressions of Earth later next year is anyone’s guess, but don’t be surprised if Julian and Co. come out on top. You can stream his first single, 11th Dimension, on his Myspace page, where he’ll post his US tour dates in the coming days.