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Mar 29, 2018 Issue #63 - Courtney Barnett By Ian Rushbury

Julian Casablancas is the living embodiment of making the most of what you have. Although he’s been blessed with a pretty limited vocal range, he seems to be making the best of it and at times, its that voice which is the only consistent factor on Virtue. The good news is, he’s sounding great.

Virtue is touted as a “protest album.” You can’t walk 10 feet in any direction without falling over one at the moment it seems. Here, Casablancas has chosen to ring the changes between The Voidz and The Strokes, which is a noble pursuit, but in doing so, he runs the risk of being almost too eclectic, especially for Strokes fans who want to hear two guitars clanging together in that classic NYC style. They don’t want to hear something that sounds like Beck jamming with Anthrax in the case of “We’re Where We Were.”

“Leave it in My Dreams” starts off safely enough, but gets a bit discordant in the middle—but not enough to scare off the indie rocker followers who make up Voidz’s fanbase. “QYURRYUS” might do, however—it sounds like 1999-era Prince with a bit of auto-tune abuse thrown in for good measure. The guitars roar back in for “Pyramid of Bones,” but the riff sounds closer to Slayer than Television. It’s at this point that the casual listener may start shifting nervously in their seat.

This is Casablancas unwinding and having fun and there’s a lot to enjoy here. He’s never sounded better (or as versatile) as a vocalist and a lot of this album (“All Wordz Are Made Up,” “Lazy Boy”) is genuinely great. He may be trying too hard, but at least he’s trying to do something different. (www.juliancasablancas.com)

Author rating: 6.5/10