Jam of the Day – Rebel in the 11th Dimension

Today, Julian Casablancas, frontman for The Strokes, debuted a video on his website of the first track off of his first solo album Phrazes For The Young called “11th Dimension.” The album is not set to drop until October 20th but he gave a sneak preview of his new sound at a short eight-song show at small venue in Tokyo at the end of August. From what we’ve heard, he sounds really solid on his own. “11th Dimension” is complex and catchy and it grows on you more with every listen.

The undeniable influence on the verses of this track is David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” which is ironic since Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” which marked the end of his “glam rock” Ziggy Stardust phase, was his first hit since 1969 to not feature Mick Ronson on guitar and he played all the instruments himself…..kind of like Casablancas is doing here sans Strokes? As he says in a video on his MySpace page, his intention with Phrazes for the Young was “to capture the catchiness of modern music but at the same time was to get the power and seriousness of classical music or older music.” Bowie was the first thing I heard at the start of this song and he built on and changed it in a really interesting way so it seems like he accomplished his goal, and we’re happy he did- this album promises to be hot.

Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension:

-ev2bk