Albert Hammond Jr. ''almost wishes'' The Strokes were over.

The guitarist and keyboard player admits he feels as frustrated as the group's fans do about the lack of certainty over their future, and there's a part of him that wants them to split so they can draw a clean break, but he thinks that would be a waste.

He said: ''It's terrible. Half of you almost wishes the band was over, so you could mourn it, and the other half of you is like, 'Why are we wasting such an amazing opportunity?'

''We are so good together and it's hard to find that connection with people.

''I would love to know about the future of the band as much as you would. We would all like to know.''

Albert went on to suggest the group's management is at fault for most of the uncertainty and doubt.

He added to NME magazine : ''Our managers make the first contact - they're running the machine.

''We went into the studio, but it seems silly to even speak about that because nothing is set.

''The machine behind us is even further behind wherever we were - at the beginning of writing I guess.''