Strokes member hits the right notes

By Patrick Daugherty

Published March 14, 2007

Don't get me wrong, I love The Strokes. But a solo CD from their rhythm guitarist as the stop-gap until Second Impressions of Earth comes out? Not exactly something I'm dying to hear. Albert Hammond doesn't even play lead guitar in The Strokes for god's sake. He just plays it really high and has funny hair.

But last time I checked, the keyboardist from New Found Glory has an album out and some dude from Linkin Park released a CD of him rapping or something, so underappreciated band members releasing their... err... diamonds in the rough isn't anything new.

And there are many warning signs for a disastrous one-off for Hammond's CD. The songs were rejected by The Strokes (i.e. Julian Casablancas), they have been floating around for many years and one of them was written for a thesis in a college class. Did I mention Hammond doesn't even play lead guitar?

But just as the latest VH1 Celebreality show, "Yours to Keep" is more entertaining than it has any right to be, the album is brisk, clean and scrupulously edited, which makes it effortlessly catchy.

The most important thing Hammond has going for himself is that he doesn't sing like a rhythm guitarist shitting out a solo album. He sounds like the actual singer of a band, and it lends the songs the necessary credence for them to be taken seriously. His voice is infinitely familiar and recognizable, but you can't tell whom he's channeling. It is his own voice.

Many times, these one-offs feature great technical playing but embarrassing arrangements. But Hammond keeps it tight, professional and sounding like a real band (he is from The Strokes after all.)

Lead single "101" personifies this and clocks in at economical 3:27 with a razor-sharp solo and crystal-clear rhythms.

It is impossible not to compare Hammond's work to that of his original band. All the songs here would be of the slower Strokes variety, but you can definitely tell what Hammond's background is. The grooves are super tight and the solos precise. Like Casablancas, Hammond buries his vocals behind a wall of sound, but also like Casablancas, they are easy on the ears and above average.

If you told anybody that these were The Strokes' B-sides, they wouldn't be surprised.

Hammond does branch out in a few places. The extended horn solo outro that ends "Hard to Live In the City" (and the album) would never appear on a Strokes album. The song structures are not always as straightforward, and the lyrics feature considerably less bile, but still, it is nothing revelatory and could easily fall under The Strokes' umbrella.

The album's strongest point, as you might expect, is Hammond's rock-solid playing. The solos he isn't given so often in The Strokes are ultra tight and interesting. They might earn him a few more on the next The Strokes' album. And damn, can this man play fine rhythms. They are as interesting as anything on the album, and the melody they provide keeps everything moving along, especially in the slower sections. If anything, you will earn a new appreciation for the backbeat he provides for The Strokes after listening to Yours to Keep.

Hammond has created a surprisingly well thought-out album that will stand the test of time, but it does nothing to suggest he should quit his day job with The Strokes. What it does show, though, is that he certainly can take a day off every now and then.