Julian Casablancas + The Voidz's Tyranny is the best thing Casablancas has done since The Strokes' Room on Fire, and quite possibly since their 2001 debut Is This It. This is based on just one listen of the album, yes, but this is not hyperbole.

Casablancas breaks out of his streamlined Strokes habits here, something he only hinted at on his 2009 solo debut Phrazes for the Young, so Tyranny is absolutely unhinged in the best way possible. It is jagged and woolly, distracted and meandering, yet full of immediacy. Quite frankly, it's the type of thing you didn't think a man this far into his career was capable of, especially when that career was built on a very specific type of tossed-off cool and tight songcraft, not to mention when you factor in the diminishing returns of The Strokes and the near-constant disillusionment of the band members. Tyranny is everything The Strokes aren't, from the guy who made them what they were.

Casablancas and his motley crew touch on everything from lo-fi goth rock to Strokes-on-psychedelics garage to Josh Homme-inspired sludge to hardcore to African rhythms, and the entirety of the album is covered in a layer of fuzz and rust. The result is a nervy rock album that feels thoroughly modern and unique, the first LP from the embattled genre to accomplish that since St. Vincent's self-titled full-length earlier this year.

Stream the whole messy thing below.

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