Albert Hammond Jr.

Yours To Keep

[3.5/5] Okay, so “In Transit” sounds exactly like some great lost Strokes song (if the Strokes had traded in their Television records for Soft Bulletin and Pet Sounds). And they really could have used that little riff that closes “Bright Young Thing” on Room On Fire. But if Albert Hammond Jr. doesn’t quite succeed in making you forget who pays his bills, at least he’s trying. He kicks off the first Strokes solo effort with a melancholy, space-age lullaby and channels the Beatles’ early stabs at Dylan on the unplugged “Blue Skies.” Even when he’s sticking closest to the sound that made him famous, it’s a kinder, gentler variation, more in keeping with the leadoff track on Is This It?. And is that a ukulele on the ’60s-flavored “Call An Ambulance”? Because it really suits the whistling solo. (SCRATCHIE/NEW LINE) Ed Masley