Albums
Ahj - EP
2013
Genre: Alternative
Release Date: 2013
By Stuart Berman
Reviewed October 9, 2013
For his first release in four years, the Strokesiest of the Strokes dials his songs back to basics. Running a mere five songs and 15 minutes, this EP is a fat-free effort that favors tight, snappy, emotionally direct songcraft
Albert Hammond Jr. is not the most popular Stroke, nor the most rock-star-stylish, nor the one who attracts an inordinate amount of popular comedic actresses, nor even the quiet one. But he is nonetheless the Strokesiest of the Strokes—if you were to ever dress up as a Stroke for Halloween, you’d be copping Hammond’s one-size-too-small thrift-store sports jacket, skinny tie, Chuck Taylors, and hair photoshopped off of Billy Ficca's head on the first Television album cover. Accordingly, out of all the extracurricular projects the Strokes have pursued over the years, Hammond’s solo releases have hewed most closely to the band’s bleary-eyed, tousled charm and classicist tendencies.