Albert Hammond Jr. preview

Albert Hammond Jr.
Congress Theatre, Chicago
Friday, March 23, 2007

It’s reasonable to assume things aren’t going well in The Strokes’ camp once a solo album appears. Albert Hammond Jr. has broken out for the time being, though tension has already unraveled the marriage of drummer Fabrizio Moretti and actress Drew Barrymore.

Hammond and his label (New Line) also think so highly of The Strokes’ commercial standing in the United States they released Yours To Keep in Europe — where they are indisputably more popular — a month earlier. The album features guests, only one of whom (Julian Casablancas; Jody Porter, Ben Kweller, Sean Lennon are the others) are Strokes, and there are not-so-subtle clues throughout that the irritated tones of his day job aren’t really what he’d like to pursue.

Of course, this is all just conjecture for the sake of it, because in reality Hammond is still a Stroke and probably intends to remain so. The most familiar-sounding tracks, however (“Hard To Live In The City,” “In Transit,” “101”), do gain something in the absence of Casablancas’ tortured howl. Even when Hammond chastises himself on “In Transit” that he “went too far,” he still sounds hopeful, like the situation can reverse itself. He gleefully repays the band’s debt to Guided By Voices with a cover of the rare “Postal Blowfish,” which itself begins “Noticing the change . . .”

But the biggest keyholes into Hammond’s personality (aside from Buddy Holly’s “Well . . . Alright”) are his forays into pastoral, British pop. “Call An Ambulance” is a jolly romp through Arthur-era Kinks, which ironically includes one of his raspiest vocal takes. Opener “Cartoon Music For Superheroes,” inconspicuously placed at the head of the album, invokes The Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B.,” winking through its lo-fi construction, but somehow reverent.

The most frustrating thing about Yours To Keep is The Strokes. They aren’t The Beatles, able to cast aside George Harrison’s suggestions. How come we got First Impressions Of Earth when all of this was just sitting on the table?

Hammond opens for Bloc Party.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly