Albert Hammond, Jr.

Como Te Llama

July 13, 2008

By Mr. Marlowe

*** 1/2 / ****

Released 2008

When Albert Hammond Jr. released his first solo album in 2007 he emphatically proved he was much more than merely the ax grinder in one of the most influential bands of the new millennium. Diverging from the direction of his music with The Strokes, Hammond’s Yours to Keep was a loose, fun, and whimsical album. Combining indie rock with lullabies, interesting instrumental choices with straight ahead rock and roll thunder and lightning, Yours to Keep was a smorgasbord of delectable aural pleasure. It’s no wonder then that Hammond’s second solo effort, Como Te Llama, arrives with such high expectations. So how does it compare to its predecessor, one of 2007’s very best albums? Well, Como Te Llama is a good record though too inconsistent to be considered the masterwork that was Yours To Keep. Como Te Llama also proves once and for all that you can take the boy out of The Strokes but you can’t take The Strokes out of the boy, for better and worse.

The bottom line this time is that Como Te Llama is a bit too Strokes-esque, a lot too rote, stumbles when it veers from The Strokes’ template, and is not quite memorable enough to stand up to repeated listens. It’s still good, no doubt, but where Yours to Keep was diverse yet consistent throughout, Como Te Llama has a handful of terrific tunes coupled with some interesting if not wholly successful efforts.

The best of the album, Feed Me Jack: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Peter Sellers, In My Room, Miss Myrtle, and G-Up are individually magnificent tunes that show the many sides of Albert Hammond, Jr. Whimsical, toe-tapping, and bittersweet fun these tunes certainly have The Strokes chugging presence in full force, and when Hammond gets his verbal lamentation on the same page as his busy, layered instrumentation as he does here, the result is a blissful path less traveled than your typical indie rock effort. With enough unlikely hooks and catchy choruses to make it known that these are Strokes tunes with a twist (such as the violins on Feed Me Jack), Hammond finds the perfect balance between mimicking an influence and making a sound his own, exactly what separates the players from the pretenders.

The other two thirds of the album, however, can’t hold a candle to the aforementioned quartet. Sure, the rest of the album is decent, though nothing outside the big winners are quite dynamic enough to really stand out. Boss Americana, Lisa, and You Won’t Be Fooled By This start with a Strokes template but add nothing in the details, something that surprises me coming from Hammond, Jr. For a guy who knows that a minor tweak here and there can go a long way, it is disappointing when pat songs such as these come down the pike. These are fairly good songs, but they feel like Hammond going through the motions rather than exploding through the speakers. Both The Strokes and a solo Hammond are better than that, and now both have shown that they are susceptible to taking their creativity for granted.

An interesting exception to the seemingly half-hearted efforts, Bargain Of A Century, likewise sounds exactly like The Strokes yet distinguishes itself by offering up a slice of Hammond’s magnificent guitar soloing. It’s that exact type of flourish that is required for Hammond to make his Strokes’ tunes work, and when his efforts lack those tweaks they also lack the power to move.

And that brings me to Hammond’s first fully instrumental tune. Mellow, refined, and ambient at heart, Spooky Couch could serve as nice background music for a relaxing afternoon in the sun. But like Boss Americana, Lisa, and You Won’t Be Fooled By This, other ho-hum efforts, Spooky Couch lacks the punch to stick in the mind and never begs the listener for more spins. It is that one and done aspect that swirls around at least half of Como Te Llama creating its biggest liability: what grabs you on first listen is all that will ever grab you.

Where Yours To Keep was a great album top to bottom, Como Te Llama is a handful of great tracks on an otherwise good though less than extraordinary record. No doubt Hammond is a great songwriter and that’s why Como Te Llama can be well above average. But as the best tracks prove, the album as a whole could be better than its best parts have us hope.

Proving your genius brings high expectations, and at his best Hammond is a genius. Como Te Llama shows that brilliance but also shows that genius isn’t as easy as merely snapping the fingers. No matter, the best of Como Te Llama is excellent, and that alone makes the entire album a rewarding experience regardless of expectations. Like cold pizza on the morning of a hangover, Como Te Llama still satisfies because, well, it’s pizza, and pizza is always good.

Best Songs: Feed Me Jack, In My Room, Miss Myrtle, G-Up, Bargain Of A Century