Easy, breezy, and sometimes just a tad boring, the debut album from one-half of the guitar duo within the Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr., is a generally “indie” affair. Yours To Keep (2006) sounds like the pitch-perfect mix of yelped vocals, lock-rhythm guitar riffage, smartly crafted and emotionally tested songwriting, and generally just everything that would make a Pitchfork staff writer piss their pants with glee. And for that, I applaud Hammond Jr., because he made the best Strokes album since their debut without even relying on the rest of the band. Apparently something had been lost since Is This It? (2001) and the songwriting capacity of the band, but Hammond Jr. strikes the perfect chord (literally) here; soft-pop gems like the opener “Cartoon Music For Superheroes” to the amazingly not-Strokes confection that is “Everyone Gets a Star” - but the problem is, this album is so derivative of the core group that Hammond Jr. steeps himself in the same production style and tightly-crafted pop rock. It’s not a shame of a record though, in fact, it’s quite the opposite - Yours To Keep is the best reminder that the Strokes have at least one great songwriter in the band, if only they’d give him the time of day so he wouldn’t have to do solo records.
Listen to “Everyone Gets A Star” (Live at Station 4, 2007)
Download “Yours To Keep“
