In my opinion, Albert Hammond Jr is the only true Stroke when there is no The Strokes around. His third album is corpus delicti for the previous sentence. It is hard to believe such a magnificent band destroyed its reputation so quickly as they did. Many have believed how they are going to be the new immortal rock gods. Instead, they were slowly becoming more and more dead with their weak albums and reductive ideas.
Meanwhile, every member was working on his own project. Julian Casablancas was close to leaving The Strokes when his first solo release hit the jackpot, while the thing with The Voidz was not as impressive. The rest were indulging in some semi interesting activities, but one of the most motivated is definitely Albert.
His third record shows he does not want to run from the modus operandi of The Strokes. Yes, the rhythm of guitars. In his songs, you can feel the spirit of The Strokes, actualized in different manners, mostly with tropical tones and some bizarre schemas. The basics are still there.
Momentary Masters is what The Strokes were desperately trying to accomplish by modernizing their sound with 80s retro disco. What this album lacks is convincible vocal. Everything else is just right. Maybe If Albert offered this album to his boys, it would be an even bigger pleasure.
After the 80s dominated peculiar into, the real smash hit comes with Caught My Shadow, reminding us of the Arctic Monkeys. Losing Touch bring nostalgia for catchy summer songs The Strokes were once able to pull out of their sleeve. Cover of Dylan’s classic Don’t Think Twice might not be glorified by the fans of this folk rock legend, but I must say it was a very brave step for Albert. I liked it.
Suma sumarum, Albert Hammond Jr still didn’t have a failure in his career. Maybe what this album needs is a little bit more focus, but even with its ups and downs, he managed to showcase he is an outstanding musician who can create a cheerful riff time after time.
