Julian Casablancas with Tanlines
Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW
When: 7 p.m. (doors) Tuesday
Info: $10 to $20; 202-265-0930; 930.com
One forgets just how influential New York garage rock band the Strokes — and their lead singer, Julian Casablancas — were at the beginning of the century, but the decade-in-review retrospectives that flooded newsstands last month brought the group’s status in modern music back to light.
Rolling Stone named the Strokes’ 2001 debut, “Is This It,” the second best album of the decade, behind Radiohead’s “Kid A.” British music magazine NME went one step further and proclaimed “Is This It,” which featured the hits “Last Night” and “Hard to Explain,” the best album of the last 10 years.
“I’m for it,” Casablancas joked during a recent phone interview. “I’m psyched. I approve.”
Casablancas now is working on a legacy independent of his famous band, having recently released a solo album, “Phrazes for the Young,” in November. He’s playing the 9:30 Club on Tuesday in support of his solo endeavor.
“I’m kind of in the bubble,” he said in reference to the accolades his earlier work is now getting. “All that music is dead to my ears. I’m colorblind to it. I can’t think about it objectively.
“I think with the solo record I realized I never really cared about the critic thing,” the 31-year-old musician added.
“Phrazes for the Young” is a well-paced yet frenetic album, incorporating synthesizers and danceable beats with rock ‘n’ roll undertones. The result doesn’t sound like a Strokes record, but one could imagine it being a Strokes album if it had more guitar.
“I just kept it on a keyboard,” said Casablancas, who primarily writes on keys. “That can be anything. There’s a lot of other stuff too.
“Sonically, I wanted the songs to sound big melodically,” he continued. “Towards the end I got the hang of it. Overall, I’m happy with it.”
Casablancas is touring with a six-piece band and is excited to perform his solo work onstage.
“It’s really awesome to bring the songs to life,” he said.
With the Strokes on a hiatus, Casablancas thought it was a good time to stretch his legs.
“A Strokes album option wasn’t really happening,” he said. “I thought it would be good to do something in the meantime.”
And only time will tell if his current work will have as much of a cultural resonance as his earlier Strokes work. Either way, he’s enjoying creating on his own.
“The fantasy of a modern composer was exciting for me,” Casablancas said.
