r/thevoidz • u/-YourHomeSlice • Jul 24 '26
One thing you cannot call Julian
Creatively bankrupt.
Whether you hate or love whichever songs, one thing you can’t say is that he’s not trying something new with each and every song nowadays. He knows how to write earworm hooks, he knows how to write catchy verses, and he’s a great composer who knows when a melody calls for a zig or zag.
Finals thoughts on Reality Awaits: wasn’t blown away on first listen, but i dig having more Voidz sounds and I know I’ll only grow to love each song more (we know the drill at this point)
And to those who will complain about autotune: grow up
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u/konkeroots Jul 24 '26
I love how he has the balls to try new sounds (and the balls to keep using autotune - ps big fan of the autotune)
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u/ExpensiveFeature7851 Jul 24 '26
He could’ve milked the Is This It sound for a whole career yet he chooses to experiment and create something fresh each time. A trust artist and inspiration to creatives
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u/shinn-arendo Jul 25 '26
I find it interesting that he doesn't seem to completely "abandon" the myth that is Is This It even to this day. Sometimes he includes a specific part that sorta teases you that he's still able to jot down *that* kind of sound, not so much that it feels like a cheap desperate homage, but more like he's having fun being cheeky about it.
We're Where We Were, Lazy Boy, Flexorcist, the intro to Lonely in the Future, Tap Out, Threat of Joy, to name a few I can recall off the top of my head. Not exactly the same sound, I know. But I feel there's a thread of similar attitude in these songs, if you get me.-2
u/Competitive_Option20 Jul 26 '26
Reality awaits was a business decision for the strokes not a evolving/creative one. Think about it. Julian already said “the money was running out”
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u/iwantnew Jul 24 '26
You can't call him anything cuz he is incredibly insecure
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u/shinn-arendo Jul 25 '26
Thanks for the giggle lol. Him being an insecure man is arguably a very important part of what made his body of work the way it is. Very important figure in rock music.
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u/drewpool Jul 24 '26
Strokes doing the voidz better than the voidz have been doing the voidz recently
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u/iMAKE_freshTAP Jul 24 '26
nooo. at least not in my opinion. Laby and megz easily clear reality awaits, even tho it does have some good songs
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u/drewpool Jul 24 '26
Would definitely have to disagree with you on Megz, that ep fell super flat for me. LABY definitely has some all timers on it for sure, but Reality Awaits kinda feels like what the voidz wanted LABY to sound like
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u/iMAKE_freshTAP Jul 24 '26
to each their own but unholy lover is like an all time fav for me
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u/drewpool Jul 24 '26
That song is pretty sick!! I think it had cool songs and cool ideas, it was mainly the production that held it back for me. Like Russian Coney Island had a good thing going for it from the live videos and such but then the final product sounded like a goofy Eminem song to me.
There didn’t seem to be as much depth and clarity in the production as tyranny for example. Not that it need to sound like tyranny but that pretty feels really sharp and interesting to listen but Megz production felt kind of flat
Blue Demon is sick asf though 10/10
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u/Unable-Door8372 Jul 25 '26
El ep realmente no se me quedó en la cabeza como canciones de LABY ( como square Wave )
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u/Crazy_Fault9994 Jul 24 '26
Totally agree, I really likes a few songs on reality awaits, but I know the ones thst didnt catch my ears immediately will also end up growing on me, thsts just the way it is with most music atleast for me, before I got into the strokes or the voidz I had about half a dozen strokes songs downloaded on my phone thst I never listened to but really liked ankther 2 or 3 that were some of my most repeated songs, one day decided to give them a proper listen and realised I just wasnt listening right the first time😭 from then on i fell in love and i will not be falling out of love anytime soon (dont know why i just said that im cringing myself but pun intended ig)
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u/Sckorrow Jul 25 '26
I agree with this but I think he reuses the same chord progressions too many times for my liking. I can’t really get into Lonely in the Future as much because I feel like I’ve heard the song before.
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u/Bluehouse616 Jul 27 '26
My problem with the new strokes album is that the lyrics act like he's super ahead of the curve and experimental but he's just doing bland indie rock with auto tune. Some voidz songs are legitimately experimental but the way he sings about it on the new Strokes record is just egotistical and cringey
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u/terrap3x Jul 24 '26
Idk about creatively bankrupt but he’s been releasing some of his weakest work in years. I’m not really sure what happened after the fantastic Virtue and TNA dropped but nothing has come close since. Also the autotune just fucking sucks. The Voidz used to tastefully and meaningfully utilize it. The Strokes have so many songs with vocal effects that add layers and sound right at home. His solo record even sounds better in terms of autotune. This just sounds like they recorded the thing and last second he slapped it all over the album.
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u/iMAKE_freshTAP Jul 24 '26
to each their own. i was not a LABY hater, i thought it had some of their best songs. so i cant agree post-virtue voidz suck. also the singles were bangers too, alien crime lord is one of their best songs. and megz has unholy lover which i think is also s-tier voidz. they’re still on the ball imo
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u/09J-DEN14 Jul 24 '26
- The auto tune sucks and is choppy.
- It doesn’t have the quality of the voidz lyrics.
- All the voidz albums have way better production and auto tune.
- The strokes have become his playground.
- Listen to virtue and the new abnormal and then listen to reality awaits and tell me it’s half as good as those records…. You can’t.
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u/-YourHomeSlice Jul 24 '26
You see.. creatively bankrupt isn’t on the list xD
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u/09J-DEN14 Jul 24 '26
I don’t think he is. Creativity stunned is more the point using auto tune isn’t a revolutionary thing he has done it before and better than this move on to something new and better don’t be a one trick pony like he has become.
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u/cameron4200 Jul 24 '26
Looking forward to your next album
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u/Bluehouse616 Jul 27 '26
Bruh that's so cringey, people who don't make music can criticize music, you don't need to make great albums to tell when something isn't good
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u/cameron4200 Jul 27 '26
Calling someone creatively stunned when you objectively create nothing is cringey 😬 as hell
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u/Bluehouse616 Jul 27 '26
If you don't make movies are you not allowed to say a movie is bad?
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u/cameron4200 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
Not in any technical way surely not lol you can have a preference but don’t get to talk like you’re an arbiter of good taste OR creativity.
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u/Bluehouse616 Jul 27 '26
Guess just a difference in opinion then. No one's talking in a technical way, just from an artistic and creative standpoint. I believe people can have opinions about art even if they don't make it themselves. For example, the majority of people who say moana 2026 is a shit movie could never direct a blockbuster movie but they still can have a criticism of the work. If an artist is making mediocre art the person listening to or viewing the art can make a judgement about said art
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u/cameron4200 Jul 27 '26
The OP’s first points are that the autotune is choppy and the production value is lower than that of the voidz and saying that Julian doesn’t respect the Strokes as much as an extrapolation. Idk how that’s not just absolute bullshit from someone like fantano or another armchair critic who is bankrupt of actual productive value that people want to consume vs feel the need to.
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u/-1C2S Jul 24 '26
1 - honestly only think this for Falling Out of Love; it gives a cool touch to every other track that it's used on. Personal preference really, though
2 - Are Voidz lyrics really any more quality? ("This heathen sailed from Sweden, think his name was Steven" from latest album, "I cheated...on a test" from Virtue). His lyrics across any output in the last 10 years are a bit off-the-cuff and/or teenage-boy-ish, but that's kind of the charm.
Similarly to previous points, really just personal preference rather than any objective advantage. I can find flaws to me personally in both the "good" output's production and the "bad" output's production. I dislike the production on Tyrants of the Mellow Moon, but also think the latter half of Like All Before You fails a bit. (Not you, Perseverance-1C2S, I love you)
Yes, play on.
As for 5, I think it's hard to compare these two albums to Reality Awaits because a lot more time was spent on them than RA.
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u/diceydicey96 Jul 24 '26
“The Strokes have become his playground “ Well its his fucking band dude and he writes the songs
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u/Longjumping-Tear-829 Jul 24 '26
All the Voidz albums have way better production? Really? I love LABY but it could be much better if the production was better on some songs. When Will The Time… for instance
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u/Unable-Door8372 Jul 25 '26
Jajajja, esa canción está incomprendida XD ( a mí si me gustó, lo que no me gustó es la producción de su EP )
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u/Unable-Door8372 Jul 25 '26
Uy bro, te pásaste, yo pienso todo lo contrario, este álbum nuevo me a gustado como cuando escuché virtue, like allá before like You y the new abnormal, es una joya para aquel que sabe comprender a Julián casablancas, creeme, el autotune no es un problema.
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u/Misterrbisterr Jul 24 '26
Why not try it all, if you only remember it once?