As far as album concepts go, Francis Trouble's is one of a kind. For his fourth solo effort, Albert Hammond, Jr. took inspiration from the fact that a small part of his stillborn twin Francis -- a fingernail, to be exact -- remained in the womb with him until his birth six months later. This could be morose subject matter, but Hammond, Jr. doesn't take it too seriously. Instead, Francis Trouble's comic book-inspired artwork and conception of Francis as a character in his own right emphasizes how lively this music is. While there are plenty of allusions to grief and alienation on "Rocky's Late Night" ("There is an emptiness I cannot describe") and "Strangers" ("How strange/The feeling to be strangers"), more often than not he sounds invigorated as he uses the lingering impact of his missing twin as a metaphor for loss and identity crises of all kinds. On the rowdy album-opening "DVSL" and the garagey catharsis of "Screamer," he....
Continues HERE
