Yours To Keep - Albert Hammond Jr Album Review
Album Review
Not afraid to leave the Strokes’ vast empire, son of legendary Albert Hammond, junior strikes out for his debut album on Rough Trade Records. Born in LA April 9 1980, the 26 year old makes a real fist of his solo foray. As rhythm guitarist with the Strokes he’s achieved two number 2 albums in the UK and a top ten single. Now the snappy dresser is testing the water as a solo artist, with his penchant jangly guitar inevitably evident here and there, but the thrust of the Strokes is temporarily abandoned for an occasional gentler template. Not a big writing contributor to the Strokes’ repertoire, he’s certainly found some latent inspiration on Yours To Keep.
Melodic ditties aplenty, the songs have a summery feel, and should have been released earlier in the year, maybe making a bigger impact three or four months ago. Nevertheless, it’s a little gem. Bringing guests Sean Lennon (some bass, piano and backups, and (Strokes) singer Julian Casablancas (Scared) on board, Hammond declares he’s been, “waiting to make a record like this for years.” With that in mind, this might be considered to be his maturation curve, so he hasn’t rushed things. From its fragile plodding opener Cartoon Music For Super Lovers, it can be detected that this is very much a solo project, with followers In Transit and Everyone Gets A Star ( a single released exclusively through iTunes on Sept 4 ) and Bright Young Thing pushing up the beats with catchy hooks and harmonies running riot.
John Lennon influenced Blue Skies serves as a poignant reminder that the Fab Four are still very much in the American folklore psyche, with jangly rocker 101 out as the next single out on November 27. Striking a more MOR format, whistle - nifty radio-friendly Call An Ambulance would have made a better offering for greater commercial appeal, certainly in the UK. Despite some divine backups by Lennon-Lattimer-Casablancas, Scared proves the only weak spot. Back on form, R’n’B drum led Holiday perks up the run-in, whilst the 5 minutes plus of expansive closer Hard To Live….with its delicious Latino brass breaks, rubber stamps an excellent debut, though commercial success with depend on his fans making the effort to check it out.
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