Coming from one of the greatest rock bands of the moment, Albert Hammond Jr. has taken some time away from being lead guitarist of "The Strokes" and has started his own, self-titled garage/indie rock band producing his debut solo album, with Josh Lattanzi on bass and Matt Romano on drums. The basic line-up is slightly added to on certain tracks with Julian Casablancas, Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne), Ben Kweller, Sean Lennon, Chris Feinstein, Mikki James, Sammy James Jr. (The Mooney Suzuki) and Ryan Gentles. Released through rough trade records in October 2006, the album contains the download only single, "Everyone Gets A Star" and the first full single "Back To The 101".
The sound of the album is very full and is generally a more cheerful, slightly more childish version of the strokes, with track two actually being originally written for a strokes album however it was decided against, as it didn't fit with their other songs. Fellow stroke "Julian Casablancas" even appears on track eight, "Scared" playing bass and backing vocals.
The Tracks: "Cartoon Music For Superheroes (Goodnight)" has a very simple melody and starts the album off with with quite a simple and happy track.
"In Transit" is the track on the album that sounds the most like The Strokes, and as I mentioned earlier was originally written for them, previously named "obstinate". It is quite a complex track compared to the first, using several layers of guitar. One of the best.
"Everyone Gets A Star" was the first single from the album, although it was released as download only. Starting with a simple bass line, then speeding up with the guitar. Albert's voice really goes along with the guitar in this track. There is a lot of depth to the sound.
"Call An Ambulance" I think starts on the ukelele and gradually picks up depth and a brighter tone.
"Blue Skies" has a slightly less cheerful tone than the rest of the album. It is a simple track with the majority taken up by slightly echoing vocals over a simple chord progression, in certain places the volume picks up with drums, by albert himself, and eerie bells.
"Back To The 101" was the first proper single, and is another great song with a very strong but soft chorus.
"Bright Young Thing" has a rythm on ukelele, and backed up by drums. Electric guitar over the top really strengthens the song. An instrumental break with whistles, and the whole tone make this quite a happy song in a way but also there is a sense of sadness.
"Scared" has quite a minor tone, and is quite different to the rest of the album. The verses are quite jumpy, however when it enters into the chorus the sound becomes quite smooth.
"Holiday" has quite a jumpy, empty beginning, and develops into a smoother and fuller sound, going back to a jumpier ending.
"Hard To Live (In The City)" is a good ending to the album, with a very full sound. The beginning has a similar sound to the rest of the album however the end is very strong with trumpets and trombones.
I wouldn't say this album could live up to the Strokes however it has some great tunes and Albert Hammond Jr. has done well with a new band. Definitely worth a listen.
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