Albert Hammond Jr – ‘Rude Customer’
After a year of relentless gigging and the classic rock ‘n’ roll cycle of drugs followed by rehabilitation, Albert Hammond Jr has returned with some of his best solo work to date on the new EP, AHJ. It’s the perfect soundtrack for a Saturday night, combining disco beats with the signature guitar sound we all know and love.
This seemingly uneasy track carries a palpable tension and anxiety, which seems to reflect Hammond Jr’s weary, dog-tired eyes. True to form, he channels all of his hurt and fragility into his recordings. ‘Rude Customer’ is exactly that—centred on a chance encounter with a waiter, it takes the listener on a subtly existential journey while being perfectly laced with infectious disco beats.
The beats are sharp and fresh, with stuttering, subdued guitar lines sliding across the soundscape, carrying a Strokes-esque twang and swagger. ‘Rude Customer’ undeniably echoes the early work of The Strokes, brimming with vibrancy and exuding a distinct B-movie cool in both vocals and delivery. It’s fraught with anxious teenage energy while maintaining the leather-clad sneer of a true rock ‘n’ roll icon. The track feels like a cool summer night in Brooklyn, peeling back the layers of social intricacies that shape who we are—basically, if Woody Allen could play guitar.
‘Rude Customer’, on the very basic level, is a track that is destined for the dancefloor, its kicking beat and pop sensibilities can guarantee that, let alone the accessible lyrics and disparaging, self-deprecating tone that give a little depth to the prominent slices of healthy riffs.
On another level, it’s an insight into the population swelling in the post-modern world we live in. But on the highest, most poignant station, it is a song in which the artist is truly representing himself with a candid veracity. That’s something no critic can dispute.
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