Honestly, if you told me in 2001 that the guy who sang "Last Nite" would eventually be crooning through a thick layer of vocoder on a hyperpop track about being a "mean girl," I would’ve laughed you out of the room. But here we are. It's 2026, and the dust has finally settled on the cultural whirlwind that was Charli XCX’s Brat era. Specifically, the track that still feels like a fever dream: mean girls featuring julian casablancas.
Most people saw the title and expected a cheeky, rock-infused anthem. Maybe some gritty guitar riffs? Instead, we got a glitchy, piano-led odyssey that sounds more like a late-night transmission from a satellite than a club hit. It’s weird. It’s polarizing. And it’s arguably the most "Julian" thing Julian Casablancas has done in a decade.
The Collision of Two Worlds
Let's be real—the pairing felt like a marketing gimmick on paper. Charli XCX, the queen of the neon-lit dance floor, and Julian Casablancas, the messy-haired king of the New York indie revival. But the mean girls julian casablancas collaboration wasn't just a random label pairing. Charli has been a vocal fan of The Strokes for years, and Julian? Well, Julian has been trying to escape being "the guy from The Strokes" since about 2009.
When the remix album Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat dropped in late 2024, this was the track everyone highlighted. Why? Because it doesn't just feature Julian; it lets him hijack the entire vibe. The original song was a bratty, high-energy piano house track. The remix? It’s a somber, robotic confession.
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The intro alone is enough to give you whiplash. That high-pitched, staccato piano riff—which was buried in the bridge of the original—becomes the backbone here. Then Julian comes in with that signature distorted baritone, singing about playing games and "hopeless causes." It’s a total mood shift.
That Weird "Owner of a Lonely Heart" Thing
If you’ve listened to the track and thought, “Wait, why does this sound like my dad’s classic rock playlist?” you aren’t crazy. Fans immediately clocked that Julian’s melody in the hook is a direct nod (or a full-blown interpolation, depending on who you ask) to Yes’s 1983 hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart."
It's such a specific Julian move. He loves taking these shiny, 80s prog-rock artifacts and burying them under layers of modern grit. On mean girls julian casablancas, it works because it adds this layer of "old soul" weariness to a song that’s supposedly about being a trendy, untouchable mean girl. It creates this friction. You have Charli chanting "this one’s for all my mean girls" while Julian sounds like he’s having a mid-life crisis in a Wendy's parking lot. It’s brilliant.
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Is This Actually a Voidz Track?
If you’re only a casual fan of The Strokes, you might find Julian’s performance on this song... confusing. Where are the guitars? Why does he sound like a malfunctioning C-3PO?
The truth is, this remix has more in common with Julian’s experimental band, The Voidz, than anything he’s done with Albert Hammond Jr. and the boys. The production team for the track included A.G. Cook and Jason Lader. Lader, specifically, worked on Julian's 2009 solo debut Phrazes for the Young and has been a key collaborator in the "weird Julian" era.
- The Vocals: This isn't just auto-tune; it's vocal synthesis used as an instrument.
- The Structure: The song abandons the traditional verse-chorus-verse for a spiraling, repetitive loop.
- The Lyrics: Julian adds lines like "I followed the rules, I took the abuse," which shifts the "Mean Girl" narrative from a position of power to a cycle of toxic behavior and regret.
Some critics at the time, like Eva Sawdey from Hearing Aid, argued that the collaboration felt "strained" because it moved too far away from the Brat aesthetic. But that's exactly why it sticks in your head. It’s an intrusion. It’s uncomfortable.
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Why It Still Matters
What most people get wrong about mean girls julian casablancas is thinking it’s a pop song. It’s not. It’s a piece of performance art about the intersection of fame, gendered archetypes, and the exhaustion of trying to stay "cool" forever.
When Julian sings "I won't break down... it is my fault, I know it now," he’s bringing a level of vulnerability that usually doesn't exist in the hyper-polished world of pop remixes. It makes the "Mean Girl" character more human. She's not just mean; she’s hurt, and Julian is the voice of that baggage.
How to Actually Appreciate the Track
If you hated it on first listen, you’re in good company. This is "five-listen" music.
- Stop looking for the hook. The hook is the texture, not the melody. Listen to the way the bass interacts with the piano stabs.
- Read the lyrics separately. Once you see what Julian actually wrote, the "robotic" delivery starts to feel more like a defensive mask.
- Check out "Wink" or "QYURRYUS" by The Voidz. If you can get into those, this remix will suddenly make perfect sense.
Ultimately, the mean girls julian casablancas remix stands as a testament to two artists who refuse to do the easy thing. Charli could have had a rapper do a 16-bar verse. Julian could have just phoned in some "Is This It" style vocals. Instead, they gave us a glitchy, prog-pop mess that perfectly captured the chaotic energy of the mid-2020s.
To get the most out of this era, go back and listen to the original Brat version of "Mean Girls" immediately followed by the Casablancas remix. The contrast is where the real story lives—the transition from the high of the party to the existential dread of the after-party. If you're looking for more "autotune-abuse" Julian, his work on the Virtue album remains the gold standard for this specific brand of beautiful noise.