Albert Hammond, Jr.
Momentary Masters
VAGRANT
6/10
Ever since his scorching solo on “Last Night,” The Strokes’s guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. has inspired a generation of aspiring players with his creative, hooky fretwork. In 2006, he impressed everyone by stepping into the role of songwriter and frontman for a phenomenal solo debut, Yours to Keep. Now, three albums (and almost ten years) into his solo career, Hammond still has his signature striking guitar chops (see the rapid-fire ping-pong of opener “Born Slippy” or the fun, angular “Drunched in Crumbs”), but the songwriting is a bit less convincing.
Like the band that made him, Hammond’s more recent work, while good, suffers in the long shadow cast by previous material. Momentary Masters sees Hammond reaching too often for the grandiose (“Losing Touch”) when the simple (“Side Boob”) will do. Despite some forgettable tracks—including a needless and somewhat awkward mid-album Bob Dylan cover—Masters shows that Hammond still knows his way around a fretboard.
