Hammond Confronts the Harrison Problem

To call Albert Hammond Jr. the George Harrison of the Strokes is to wrap an accurate observation in way too much flattery. The talented guitarist is an underappreciated member of his band; that band is no Beatles.In speaking to the press about his first solo album, “Yours To Keep” (Rough Trade), which is due out October 24, Mr. Hammond has taken pains to emphasize that he isn’t quitting the Strokes. Not that anyone would blame him — or notice — if he did. The fall of the photo-ready fivesome has been painfully well documented. After countless magazine spreads and lavish marketing campaigns, their third album, this year’s “First Impressions of Earth,” sold a meager few hundred thousand copies.The consensus is that the Strokes were never that talented to begin with; they were just the right band, with the right sound, at the right moment — and now that moment is past. My own feeling is that it was the pressure that got to them. “Is This It?” still holds up as an exceedingly good first record. But nothing since has had any air in it.Mr. Hammond reportedly offered his songs to the band, but lead singer Julian Casablancas maintains a whiteknuckle grip on the songwriting duties, so they were rejected. It’s too bad: They might have provided just the counterpoint the Strokes need.The first thing you notice about “Yours To Keep” is that it sounds very little like the Strokes. The opener, a twee lullaby called “Cartoon Music for Superheroes,” begins with plucked acoustic guitar notes and what sounds like a toy xylophone. “Goodnight, goodnight, I say to you goodnight / dream of all the impossible,” Mr. Hammond sings in a voice that, like Harrison’s, is passable but not especially memorable.Mr. Hammond may be striking out on his own here, but tellingly, he’s hardly standing alone. Almost as if he were a washed-out veteran seeking renewed credibility, his list of collaborators reads like a who’s who of New York indie rock: Sean Lennon, Ben Kweller, Sammy James Jr. (of the Mooney Suzuki), Jody Porter (of Fountains of Wayne), and Mr. Casablancas each lend their talents to the album.While Mr. Hammond may have freed himself from the claustrophobic creative environment of the Strokes, he hasn’t exorcised his band issues. A catchy power-pop song called “Back to the 101” is ostensibly about a lopsided romantic relationship, but it can just as easily be read as a comment on his relationship with Mr. Casablancas: “though it took me by surprise / one by one I realized / there was something I could do,” Hammond sings, as if discovering his ability to write songs.One solution to Mr. Hammond’s Harrison problem is to try to sound like a greater Beatle, namely John Lennon. The loose, organic arrangements of several of the songs on “Yours To Keep” owe a debt to Lennon’s “Imagine” album. The gruffness in Hammond’s voice on the chiming song “Blue Skies” recalls Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth,” while the chorus melody carries strong echoes of “Jealous Guy.” The use of sitar, however, is a classic Harrison move.A few songs do slip into the old Strokes doldrums, although Hammond, to his credit, makes an effort to dress them up. Calligraphic, Strokes-y double guitars open “In Transit,” but it isn’t long before airy keyboards take it more in the direction of Vangelis’s “Blade Runner” soundtrack. “Holiday” flirts with the Carribbean-tinged sounds the Strokes have explored on their later albums, to no better effect. “Hard To Live in the City” is monochromatic, except for the drum-pounding choruses and a Latin jazz-by-way-of-New Orleans coda incongruously tacked onto the end.But these are the exceptions to the rule. There is more variety in these 10 songs than in the Strokes’ first three albums combined. “Bright Young Thing” has a playful, tinker toy quality. “Scared,” which features the distinctive vocals of Spoon’s Britt Daniel, borrows the waterlogged guitar effect of Elliot Smith’s “A Fond Farewell.” “Call an Ambulance,” a charming composition that incorporates ukulele, whistles, and la-la-las, sounds like something Badly Drawn Boy or Michael Penn might have crafted.The Strokes should take advantage of this talent in their midst, if it isn’t already too late. But if they fail to — and continue to fail — “Yours To Keep” offers ample evidence that Mr. Hammond could make a go of it alone.

Hammond Confronts the Harrison Problem

Hammond Confronts the Harrison Problem

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