Julian Casablancas, or “Jules” to his friends, could be any New Yorker. The frontman for the perpetually hyped Strokes gets annoyed when people make deals on their cell-phones within ear shot.
He does last-minute Christmas shopping – with Times Square stops at the Virgin Megastore and Sam Ash. And, he hates the recently yuppiefied Lower East Side, retreating instead to a more low-key scene in Chinatown.
But as a Stroke, Casablancas’ New York might as well exist in another dimension.
He and his four bandmates have just returned from a European promotional tour. And before shopping at Virgin, the 27-year-old spent the morning at MTV, gearing up to release the band’s third album “First Impressions of Earth,” due in stores Tuesday.
“I’m forced to talk about myself so much,” Casablancas tells The Post. “It’s weird. I don’t know who I am any more. I feel very normal at the beginning of the day, but when I go to sleep I feel confused.”
There’s little wonder why Casablancas and his bandmates – guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti – might feel dazed.
Where most bands slave for years to get a break, the Strokes quickly generated word of mouth from the subways of New York to the tubes of London. After early gigs at the Spiral and Mercury Lounge, the band released “Is This It” in late 2001.
Even with the nation distracted by the tragic fallout of 9/11, the Strokes became a buzzword, their debut spinning off platinum sales and hit singles.
In their wake, New York suddenly seemed to be an epicenter for back-to-basics rock, with bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol being catapulted into the spotlight. For a brief moment, our local rock scene seemed to blossom in a way it hadn’t since the heady days when CBGB spawned groups such as the Ramones, New York Dolls, Television and Blondie.
“We had our whole lives to write that first record,” Casablancas says. “We didn’t even think. We just did it.”
Then came 2003’s “Room on Fire,” greeted with lukewarm reviews and barely able to limp into gold status. The scruffy, black-clad, downtown party boys, barely in their 20s, had the impossible task of living up to being crowned the saviors of rock ‘n’ roll.
The group, fatigued by nonstop attention from rock critics and gossips alike, had recorded the record quickly and barely promoted it.
“We were too quick to assume people would like it,” Casablancas admits. “The music was good, but people couldn’t get past it being similar to the first album.”
But Casablancas sees redemption in the lackluster reception: “If it had been received better than the first album, maybe I would have had my head up my ass and never written a great song again.”
Though some ultra-hip New Yorkers discounted the band once it became an MTV staple, there’s still a huge amount of interest in “First Impressions.”
After all, it’s hard not to root for a band so closely identified with the city. If it fails, wouldn’t that be a nasty reminder that our home-grown scene was little more than a red-hot, gaseous ball of hype?
“The buzz is pretty big,” says Brian McCarthey, who works at Tower Records in the Village. “Me and my friends are asking for it. People are coming in and asking about it. That’s a good sign. I’m excited.”
Casablancas, meanwhile, thinks of “First Impressions” as a “springboard” to a new era of Strokes music. Instead of knocking out an album in a matter of weeks, the band built its own studio – Red Carpet in Hell’s Kitchen – hired new producer David Kahne (the Bangles, Paul McCartney) and took a full nine months to write and record.
“By taking a little bit of time, we forgot what it meant to be on tour,” says Moretti. “We fell off the map a little bit. People didn’t care about us as rockers any more, so we just lived our lives. We became closer friends through the process. Now we’re like the Strokes Squared.”
A departure from the Strokes’ signature blend of choppy guitars and distorted vocals, “First Impressions” features a clearer, more varied sound, ranging from huge rock tunes like the first single “Juicebox” to smaller, intimate pop songs such as “Ask Me Anything.”
“This really feels like a second first album,” Moretti says. “The first two records were like good paintings on a two-dimensional plane, but this third record is much more three-dimensional. It’s more like a sculpture.”
For a guy who could practically copyright his laid-back style, Casablancas actually sounds renewed by the change in direction.
“We’re trying to get to another level,” he says. “We’re the same people and we still have fun and f- – – around a lot but when it comes to bearing down and working we just do it more harmoniously.”
Harmonious was hardly the byword during the group’s 2004 tour in support of “Room on Fire.” Rumors have abounded that during a particularly explosive jaunt through Hawaii, the Strokes came close to imploding.
“Take five egos and throw them together and have them tour and do press, and it’s guaranteed they won’t be friends,” Casablancas says. “You have to find the balance by keeping your heads on straight and working towards a long-term career and doing what it takes to do get your music out there.”
The Strokes had to change to reflect the shifts in the members’ lives since the days of playing in grimy East Village clubs. In addition to the five founding members, there are now wives and a baby.
Fraiture, 26, and his wife had a baby earlier this year. Valensi, 24, spends time in L.A. with his girlfriend, and Hammond, 25, has a steady girlfriend, Catherine Pierce, half of country sister duo the Pierces.
Moretti, 25, jet-sets between New York and L.A. (he spent a “lukewarm Christmas” in California), to see Drew Barrymore, his girlfriend of four years. And Casablancas got married in 2004.
“We went from being a new band and feeling like the new kids on the block,” Casablancas says. “Everything was so happy-go-lucky you didn’t have to think, but now it feels like . . . some people may think our spirits have quieted, but we’re just more focused, in a way. Hopefully, the music with the next record just gets better.”
For the sake of New York’s rock reputation, we can only hope so.
mary.huhn@nypost.com
CD REVIEW
The Strokes
“First Impressions of Earth”
(two stars)
RCA/BMG
ON their third album, New York’s Strokes – the knights in shining armor who “saved” rock a few years ago – aren’t slaying, but laying with, the pop beast.
Bad news for fans who once adored this band’s terse, quick-draw songs and delivery: In an obvious move to be as appealing to American kids as they are to Brit brats, the quintet, led by singer Julian Casablancas, has fattened its sound with complex melodies that rely on ill-fitting bridges to glue them together.
This is a major change for a band that used to slam down gritty melodies without filler. What could have been the first great record of 2006 clocks in at just under an hour, twice as long as both previous discs.
On “Earth,” more is definitely less. For all the stylistic switch-ups, including snatching the hook from Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” for “Razor Blade,” the disc sounds more scattered than inventive.
Casablancas mopes his way through much of the record, with lackadaisical efforts on “On the Other Side” and the sloppy, Pogues-like “15 Minutes.” It’s as if he didn’t care if he made it to the end of the songs. You’ll wish he hadn’t tried in the first place.
The Strokes pull true on “Juicebox,” where the guitars are choppy and bassist Nikolai Fraiture rumbles along in counterpoint to Casablanca’s clear (for once) vocals.
Casablacnas’ lyrics cryptically explore nihilism, especially in “Ask Me Anything” where he sings, “I’ve got nothing to say.” The song is so ripe with simple truthfulness, it’s almost worth the price of the album. But be smart: Just download this track instead. – DAN AQUILANTE
