Como Te Llama? - Albert Hammond Jr Album Review

Albert Hammond Jr

Album Review

Strokes-man jumps out, again. Career move me thinks?

Normally, Albert Hammond Jr is to be heard as rhythm guitarist with uber-rockers The Strokes. Now and again, he does his own thing and now dates super model Agyness Deyn. Following his solo debut Yours To Keep two years ago (2006), Como Te Llama? (How does he / she/ it call you?) though probably meant to be 'What's Your Name?, was recorded at the famous Electric Lady Studios in New York and continues to build on its predecessor With The Strokes seemingly becoming lazier than ever, it appears that Junior is making a career move statement, trying to hog the limelight all for himself. It's a brave move, as he'll never eclipse the work with the band he made his name with. His dad, Albert Hammond was a leading popular 60s hit maker with songs like It Never Rains In Southern California and Free Electric Band, though this Albert doesn't seem to have inherited his father's pop sensibilities. The outcome here has mixed results from attempting grungy rock a la Neil Young and messy efforts to sound like John Lennon, with incidentally, Sean Lennon playing piano on Spooky Couch. To his credit, he's thrown caution to the wind, and thrown the kitchen sink into embracing many styles.

Its downfall however, tracks often don't feel comfortable next to each other. Lisa is a swaying and complex song with some exhilarating moments when the strings kick-in. The album bounces into action with the thuddering and stuttering guitar whoosh on Bargain Of The Country which sounds, musically, like a Bruce Springsteen track without the wall-of-sound production. There are some dazzling fuzzy guitar solos which is quite remarkable for a rhythm guitarist, his main role in The Strokes. The single GFC, is reasonably melodic enough to get some attention by mainstream radio playlists. Victory At Monterey is quirky enough to be classified as psychedelic, though the funky bassline groove keeps its roots in the here -and -now. Rocket and You Won't Be Fooled are pretty average, deemed as poor 'fillers', though the edgy riffs of Borrowed Time and the cool bass are enough to keep Stroke-sters happy. Daringly, he throws in reggae splashes on the groovy pop-tinged Miss Myrtle.

File under: Interesting, but never influential.

Elly Roberts