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- By date
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Alternative PressThere's a fine line between vintage rock revision and progressive insight--Hammond Jr. has mastered the balance. [Aug 2008, p.170]
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The only criticism is that the lyrics fail to make the impact implied by titles like ‘Feed Me, Jack; Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love’. That aside, this is an unexpected delight.
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The album is filled with big guitar noise and mildly incongruous but not unpleasant mixtures of modern riffs ("Rocket"), new wave basslines ("Victory at Monterey") and retro hooks and melodies ("Miss Myrtle").
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Working more closely with his band, Hammond has given his songs more dimension, and the ambition.
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FilterHere and there the noodling is drawn-out and the point could be gotten-to quicker, but this mishmash--reggae, rock, and jazz, for instance--shows Hammond exploring and stretching his own bounds as a songwriter and drummer Matt Romano as producer. [Summert 2008, p.96]
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While at times ¿Cómo Te Llama? might feel as though it's fallen through a timewarp from the late 60s/early 70s, it's not afraid to jump around within this, from raw garage rock to deeper, darker blues.
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It's another solid collection that echoes his day job from an artful distance.
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Hammond's lyrics and vocals aren't as distinctive as those favored by Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, but the guitarist's music breathes in ways Strokes songs don't.
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For guitarheads, Como Te Llama makes for a nifty Fender Stratocaster tonal demo. For more general fans, it’s a relaxingly unfocused but usually enjoyable effort.
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On the whole, Cómo's not a weaker album than "YTK," but it sounds like it's overcompensating for its likely increased exposure.
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Some of ¿Como Te Llama?'s individual songs are stronger than the material on Hammond's debut, but as a whole, it's a shade less engaging than "Yours to Keep"--though it's still enjoyable enough to please most Strokes fans.
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Hammond does successfully replicate the pop-rockin’ sounds of the past and does it with considerable style to spare.... But like many students attempting to impress their teachers, much of ¿Cómo Te Llama? fails to push things past the established curriculum set by the originators.
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The fact that Hammond can’t actually sing that well is rendered practically obsolete on this album; his hazy drawl may not be the strongest in the world, but it suits these songs just fine.
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On his second solo record, guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. hedges his bets with familiar guitar-pop exercises alongside tracks that find him stretching into uncharacteristic territory.
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The album is so wide-ranging and open to experiment that it stands up in its own right--unlike most side projects.
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Overall it’s a solid sophomore effort, and certainly good enough to tide Strokes fans over until that band’s next release.
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None of it is in any sense inspired, and Hammond tries his hand at that Swiss-finishing-school skank once too often, but many tracks here could comfortably make it onto First Impressions of Earth.
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Under The RadarSimilar to his solo debut, Hammond’s lead guitar lines often surprisingly take a backseat here--a marked change from their prominence on more recent Strokes albums. In the end it’s by no means a new Strokes record, but it’ll do until the day a new one finally comes along. [Summer 2008]
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¿Cómo Te Llama? is best when the songs seem to shake and quaver within their candy-coated shells; fittingly, that’s when they’re at their Strokes-iest.
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Q MagazineIt builds upn the spirit that made his debut, "Yours To Keep," so warm. [Aug 2008, p.136]
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¿Cómo Te Llama? is composed almost entirely of the same kind of songs that made "Yours to Keep" such a lopsided affair.
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The results aren't bad, just wan, and they make for one of the most characterless albums of the year.
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Hammond, Jr. paints an awfully pretentious portrait of a dude caught playing with his best friend’s b-sides.
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Mojo¿Cómo Te Llama? is not a bad record, just so unrelentingly average that you wonder how in this age of music biz recession, it could be worth anyone's 14.99. [Aug 2008, p.112]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 12
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Mixed: 0 out of 12
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Negative: 1 out of 12
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Nov 3, 2010