Julian Casablancas continues Anthony Fantano feud with diss on The Strokes new album
The Strokes have called out music critic Anthony Fantano on their latest album, Reality Awaits.
The New Yorkers have finally released their first album in six years, following 2020’s New Abnormal. In that time, they’ve found plenty of dirty laundry to air.
On the album’s third track, ‘Lonely in the Future’, Casablancas autotuned voice attacks Fantano, who scored the last album by The Voidz, his side project, a ‘Not Good’.
Casablancas sings, “I heard that twenty fucking years ago, I did Fantano, word for word, when I was a kid.”
The lyrics then add, “Stick to the technical, ’cause that’s great, but you would not recognise art in any age.”
In response to the public call-out, Fantano has taken to X to soothe the brewing feud, writing, “Just for the record, before I gotta get into the thick of it, The Strokes are one of my fav bands of the 2000s and no comments, lyrics, drama, or otherwise will ever change that.”
The relationship between the pair stretches back to 2020, when they completed a cordial video interview.
However, Casablancas has previously called out the 40-year-old on social media, claiming that he only understands the technicalities of music, rather than understanding real art.
Appearing on the Oh Gatekeeper podcast in 2024, the frontman was asked his opinion of Fantano, to which he replied, “He’s not my fucking brother.”
He went on, “He should stick to analysis when he’s methodically and scientifically describing things. He does a good job of like, ‘he used this studio and did this.’ So he’s good at that. When it comes to art taste, he’s trash and knows nothing.”
Casablancas also dissed Fantano for “review[ing] old albums to sound like he knows what he’s talking about.”
In a long essay reaction to the criticism, Fantano dissected Casablancas’ critiques, before signing off, “It’s all water under the bridge. […] Anthony Fantano, Julian Casablancas, forever.”
Far Out gave Reality Awaits three-and-a-half stars, observing, “For anyone concerned that Reality Awaits would serve as the death knell for The Strokes’ credibility or existence, the truth is that there are still flashes of virtually everything they’ve done before, plus new ideas that they’re keen to experiment with to keep things fresh.”
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