Albert Hammond Jr’s 2006 solo debut, Yours to Keep, was a welcome surprise, in part because it sounded so different to his day job as guitarist for the Strokes, coming across like a lo-fi Beach Boys. His third album is less distinctive, but no less enjoyable for it. There are several nods to key artists that influenced the New York five-piece: Losing Touch starts up like the Cars; the guitar flourishes on Born Slippy are surely a deliberate echo of Television’s Marquee Moon. Side Boob and Razor’s Edge don’t even bother with the middle men, heading straight for the infectious propulsion of Is This It. Elsewhere, however, Hammond makes a creditable stab at the sunny nonchalance of Mac DeMarco, while a crunching Arctic Monkeys riff underpins Caught By My Shadow. It all makes for a winning return.
