Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llamo - 2008
Hammond's first non-Strokes record was a whimsical little foray into the lighter side of the sound of his day job band. And that made it fun to listen to. I was kind of hoping his next record would show a little growth, expand on the sounds he can make, broaden the picture.
Instead he seems to be saying on the second track, "In My Room", "Hey, you aren't gonna make another Strokes record? I will!".
Maybe that's what's up with the 4 missing people on the cover of the record...
The one thing that separated the first one from other Casablancas led records was the vocals. Sure, the sound was softer and more playful, but not now. Now Hammond has fuzzed up his voice, lazied up the nasal and channeled his band leader.
So, instead of sounding like a fresh take on sounds by a familiar artist, he just sounds like a Strokes wannabe band.
This works some of the time. "Lisa" is a nice and dark Indie-fuzz rock track. And "The Boss Americana" is fun in it's own, derivative way. The only singularly interesting moment comes deep into the record with the 7 minute delicate instrumental "Spooky Couch". But if the best you can say about the record is to sing the praise of the instrumental track, then you have a bigger problem. There's no new ideas on Como Te Llamo and the old ones are played out.
Como Te Llama reminds me of Thunder Express, the spin off band by the guitarist for the now defunct The Hellacopters. A diluted, second rate version of the first, which was a band that ran out of ideas and just stopped being.
Grade: C-
ASide: Bargain of a Century
BlindSide: Spooky Couch
DownSide: G Up
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