Albert Hammond Jr. - Momentary Masters

Albert Hammond Jr.
Momentary Masters
2015

The Strokes have suffered from their own charismatic debut as of late. In an attempt to move forward from their original success they have floundered and experimented never really finding the foothold they once had. The same could have been said for the guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.'s first two records which were in a word, odd. However after publicly going sober and finding some new inner piece Hammond has released his third and to date best record Momentary Masters. This is record is what The Strokes have been looking for, a perfect little blend of dirty rock with new wave elements peppered in. The driving bass and drums are there especially on tracks like "Losing Touch". Hammond isn't afraid the exist in the small or large scale and a dedication to Lo-Fi or Hi-Fi does not govern the music He creates. There is a sense of artistic freedom on this record that allows it to throw off the bonds of success or failure and just be. Hammond is never trying to be to cool for his own good and that comes through on this record. He does not care about whatever hipster cred He may have had or needs to live up to and instead focuses on making a really solid record.

Momentary Masters is also super lean. At only 36 minutes there is not an ounce of fat here, this record has been trimmed up so that it hits and gets the hell out of town. The final third for the album descends into a bit more Strokeish sound that you are used to and it honestly suffers because of it. That inventiveness and originality slips away and we hear more of the same that we are used to. "Side Boob" could have come right off a Strokes album and besides the voice you would not really know the difference. There is a great piece to this album and a piece that feels a bit refectory and derivative of what The Strokes have done in the past. Give Momentary Masters a spin but if you check out before the last three songs, you won't be missing out on much.

6.9 out of 10