Como Te Llama?

iTunes Review

For solo album number two, 2008’s Como Te Llama (Spanish for “What’s Your Name?”), Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. booked five weeks at the legendary Electric Lady Studios in NYC and churned out these thirteen tracks with his elastic backing group adding just the right amount of instrumental flourish. Hammond isn’t always the most confident singer. He leads well over the tight ‘70s guitar riffs of “The Boss Americana” but in select spots he’s likely to hide behind different phasings and reverb and to send the guitars and keyboards to the forefront to do his bidding for him, creating subliminal pop in the process. “Rocket” is strong and tuneful, balancing Hammond’s laid-back vocals with hyper agitated guitar. “Lisa” skewers from a bare-bones reggae-garage groove into sudden bursts of colorful keyboards and electric guitars that carry the melody for him. “GfC” breaks out into a bracing chorus where Hammond sounds like a pop star from the AM radio of the 1970s who’s accidentally stumbled upon a punk group.