The Voidz

Growing out of Julian Casablancas’ solo career into a band with its own freewheeling identity, the Voidz combine indie, hard rock, electronic, and pop with creative abandon. The group’s experimental impulses and political outrage were at their most anarchistic on 2014′s debut album Tyranny. Though they made their sonic free-for-alls a little easier for listeners to follow on 2018′s Virtue and singles like 2019′s “I Did My Best/The Eternal Tao” and 2023′s “Prophecy of the Dragon,” the Voidz’ music was never less than audacious. Keyboardist Jeff Kite and drummer Alex Carapetis were members of singer/multi-instrumentalist Casablancas’ backing band during the tour for his 2009 solo album, Phrazes for the Young. In 2011, Kite, Carapetis, and bassist/keyboardist Jake Bercovici also worked with the Strokes frontman on “I Like the Night,” a song he wrote for the French fashion label Azzaro. Casablancas liked the chemistry he had with these musicians, and mutual friends Beardo and Yaghmai soon joined the group. Initially called Julian Casablancas + the Voidz, the band released its debut album, Tyranny, on Casablancas’ Cult Records in September 2014. Recorded at New York City’s Labyrinth studio with producer Shawn Everett, the album continued the ambitious, volatile approach of Phrazes for the Young and ranged from the 11-minute single “Human Sadness” to critiques of corporations and organized religion. Tyranny peaked at number two on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart and number 39 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. The band went on a support tour that lasted into 2015, playing headlining and festival shows that featured a mix of Voidz’ songs as well as Casablancas’ solo material and the songs he wrote for the Strokes. In 2017, the band renamed themselves the Voidz and moved to RCA. Their second album, Virtue, arrived in March 2018. Working once again with Everett, the Voidz balanced the wide-ranging sounds and political outrage of their debut with a more focused outlook on tracks that included an acoustic cover of Michael Cassidy’s 1978 disco song “Think Before You Drink.” Virtue reached number eight on the Billboard Alternative Albums Chart and 151 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. For the next few years, the Voidz concentrated on short-form releases. Following the 2018 Adult Swim single “Coul as a Ghoul,” the band connected with Mac DeMarco and Kirin J. Callinan, who co-produced May 2019′s “I Did My Best/The Eternal Tao.” The Voidz returned in late 2020 with “Alien Crime Lord,” a track featured on Casablancas’ Grand Theft Auto Online radio station K.U.L.T. 99.1 Vespucci Beach, Low Power Beach Radio, which also included contributions from DeMarco and David Cross. The following April, the band issued “The Eternal Tao 2.0,” an expanded version of the 2019 song. In May 2023, the Daft Punk collaboration “Infinity Repeating (2013 Demo)” appeared on the pioneering electronic act’s tenth anniversary edition of Random Access Memories; a few weeks later, the Voidz resurfaced with their first new music in two years. Co-produced by Ivan Wayman, Justin Raisen, and Sadpony, “Prophecy of the Dragon” offered brooding electro-metal-pop. ~ Heather Phares