Album Review: Yours To Keep by Albert Hammond, Jr.

Who’d have guessed that the Strokes were hiding a second talented writer in their ranks? Albert Hammond Jr., known to most as the rhythm guitarist in that gang of jaded princes, spent years quietly assembling enough material to put out a solo album; his patience pays off on his mellow debut Yours to Keep, with its sweetly yearning melodies and modest arrangements that often recall Guided by Voices. It’s a thoroughly likable effort? and it ought to earn Hammond a few slots of his own on the Strokes’ next track list. B+ DOWNLOAD THIS ”Blue Skies” .

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Albert Hammond Sr, father of the above, was responsible for a raft of folk-pop hits in the 1970s, many with twee names such as It Never Rains in Southern California and The Free Electric Band. Suffice to say, his son was either going to follow in his musical footsteps or become a strait-laced type who would dismiss the world of rock'n'roll as one of juvenile debauchery and attention-seeking excess - which of course it is, and that's why we love it so. Hammond Jr chose the road of excess, which in turn led to a place among those insouciant New York sons who made post-millennial guitars the best thing since sliced Lou Reed - the Strokes.

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Review Summary: YtK brings the Strokes guitarist his own piece of the alt-rock pie. The record has a few good tracks, but lacks the real originality and energy that could make it great.The cover of Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.’s first solo album is far from the sounds and sights his primary band keeps very much at the heart of their style, but there it is. The cover depicts a warm, happy scene on the bank of a wide river.

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The solo debut from Albert Hammond Jr. doesn't have the stylish and sexy six-string swagger one would expect from the 'froed Strokes guitarist, but it does yield enough Top 40 radio gems to spark a small feud with Liam Gallagher. Opener "Cartoon Music for Superheroes" finds the Beach Boys by way of the Shins, a dreamy and heavily textured ditty that incorporates the tinkering of what sounds like a ballerina music box.

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