Last time former Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr played Brighton he wasn’t a natural frontman, shifting his microphone back from the lip of the stage and keeping between-song banter to a minimum.

Perhaps it is confidence in his stunning third album Momentary Masters that created a change in his public persona on the stage of The Old Market.

Backed by a powerful five-piece band he was happy to chat to the front row, flicking guitar picks into the crowd and joking with his bandmates.

The band was perfectly in sync, launching into new songs in a heartbeat – providing everything his mini guitar-pop masterpieces required.

Momentary Masters formed the backbone of the set, with only the album’s Dylan cover not getting an airing; Hammond Jr confessed he wasn’t a big fan of Bob.

It was another Bob – Pollard of Guided By Voices – that Hammond Jr’s songwriting most closely resembled, with a cover of Postal Blowfish nodding to the influence.

On Momentary Masters Hammond Jr created strong riffs and snappy melodies it seemed impossible nobody had written before. His songs were like the classic rock middle-eights one wished would never end.

And with four encores, including a stunning Drunched In Crumbs and closing Holiday with a set-halting false ending, it was clear the band didn’t want the Thanksgiving night to be over either.

Five stars