Different stroke

On his first solo outing, “Phrazes for the Young,” Julian Casablancas – lead vocalist for the tragically hip The Strokes – stares critics skeptical of his individual musical ambitions square in the eyes and curls his upper lip into a victorious snarl.

By matching up to many of The Strokes’ best offerings (or in this case, blowing away the group’s most recent release, the over-saturated “First Impressions of Earth”), Casablancas makes a strong case as to why he is more than capable of holding his own.

Driven by infectious 1980s-style synth riffs, swaggering choruses and Casablancas’ trademark boyish charisma, “Phrazes” manages to catch a young artist at a musical crossroads of sorts, venturing into uncharted sonic territory while keeping frantic ghosts of his East Village hipster past close at bay.

On the boozy, banjo/pipe-driven “Ludlow St.,” he croons about “surrendering my ego” and “dangling my pride” to ease his dark-eyed, hungover soul. On “Phrazes,” we encounter Casablancas struggling to fit in between his past and his future, sounding surprisingly commanding every step of the way.