Albert Hammond, Jr. - ¿Cómo Te Llama?

ALBERT HAMMOND JR
¿Cómo Te Llama?

While Albert Hammond, Jr’s rather lovely debut solo album, Yours To Keep, proved – as if we needed it - that The Strokes guitarist has an ear for a perky pop melody, it also undeniably signposted its influences, not least in his Beach Boys harmonies. And it is here that his sophomore effort ¿Cómo Te Llama? differs slightly.

When Drum recently spoke to the American, he said that his major influences for this record were The Kinks, The Clash and Neil Young, yet none of these are especially obvious to reference within the 13 songs on offer here. Sure, there is some nice chunky riffage on The Boss Americana which nods to The Kinks but this record sees Hammond, Jr. clearly starting to find his own sound. ¿Cómo Te Llama? is bolder and more ambitious than its predecessor.

There are inevitably moments, like Gfc, that sound rather like The Strokes but there is also some interesting experimentation, most notably on the instrumentation of Spooky Couch and the intro to Lisa, which is reminiscent of Super Furry Animals. Although there is nothing especially distinctive or outstanding about Hammond, Jr’s vocal, the fact that it sounds a bit like his band-mate Julian Casablancas and sometimes like David Bowie means it is more than adequate to sit atop his guitar-lied compositions.

¿Cómo Te Llama? might not have quite the same sunny appeal of Hammond, Jr’s debut, but it is perhaps a more coherent album and certainly shows a continuing musical growth and maturity to his songwriting.