My 14-year-old self’s love for Julian Casablancas reignited after he serenaded me (and 1,000 other people) at Coachella. And Kittens Lim asked me to write a Julian post. So that calls for a bunch of Strokes/Phrazes for the Young talk.

Back in 2001 when The Strokes went from playing Arlene’s Grocery to having the best album of the year, Julian was the face of the new wave of music, the (gasp!) Kurt Cobain to the new millenium’s NYC Nirvana.

And now - almost ten years, three Strokes albums (with decreasing critical appeal), one solo LP, numerous leather jackets, a marriage and a kid later - Jules is back with the boys for one more romp with Venison The Strokes.

With the long-awaited fourth Strokes LP pushed back for release till March 2011, at least we’ve still got all the side-projects to depend on meanwhile.

Albert Hammond, Jr. dropped two solo LPs, Fabrizio Moretti joined Little Joy with Binki Shapiro, Nikolai Fraiture became Nickel Eye, and of course, Julian and his feathered earring took over the world.

So, to tide us all over till the boys get back in business full time, here’s Julian Casablancas performing bonus track “Old Hollywood” on Viva Radio, accompanied by a very blessed-with-facial-hair friend. I like facial hair.

www.thestrokes.com
www.juliancasablancas.com