By Pete Donahue

If your a huge fan of The Strokes like me, then you have probably already heard about drummer Fabrizio Moretti’s side project, Little Joy. But if you haven’t heard this new band yet, please pay attention. You just might like what you’ll hear (or love it!)

The trio, rounded out by Rodrigo Amarante (former singer and guitarist of Brazilian rockers Los Hermanos) and Moretti’s girlfriend, Binki Shapiro, recruited producer Noah Gerogeson (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Mason Jennings) and made an 11-song, 30-minute self-titled debut album. Great. But now that you’re aware of the Strokes connection, you probably only care about one thing – does it sound like The Strokes? No…and yes. Confused? Read on.

There are a lot of different little shades that make Little Joy such a wonderful debut album. It has a vintage analog, warm recording quality that sort of makes it sound like it was cut somewhere in California in the late 60′s. From Beach Boys barroque pop to Portuguese troubador, the songs wear many different masks. And from ukulele’s to mellotrons, many different instruments are heard on the tracks.

Opener “The Next Time Around” is a sway-worthy ditty conjuring up images of Hawaii and beaches of yesteryear, with its three-part harmonies and dub bassline. “Brand New Start,” the album’s catchiest tune, sounds like a 60′s AM radio pop hit, with clean electric guitar glimmering with just the right amount of reverb and a big band section tucked away in the back: “There ain’t no lover like the one I got/She and I in a brand new start/There ain’t no lover like the one I got/Love won’t bring me down, oh no.” I wonder if Shapiro blushed when she first heard the song, as it’s pretty obvious Moretti wrote it for her.

“No One’s Better Sake” sounds like a vintage reggae track with great harmonies, vintage organs, and Moretti doing his best “Strokes drummer” impression, all with some extra latin percussion for good measure. “What are we waiting for?” they sing. Good question – this song makes me feel like hitting the beach instead of working for a living.

Shaprio takes the lead vocal on “Unattainable,” a nice sparse song with just a simple guitar strum, subtle bass, light percussion and choral harmonies of “Ohhhh” provided by the men of Little Joy. “I can’t coerce you into this one/Jealousy lay all your spells to bed/I’ll choose unloved instead” she sings with such an easy delivery that it almost seems like it was recorded without her knowing (“Oh, you were rolling tape?).

Amarante carries his croon into “With Strangers,” which sounds like it could easily be just a 4-track cassette demo. With Amarante and his acoustic guitar, he strums along: “I’ll keep holding on to you/See no use for perfecting lives with strangers/If only you, if only now.” There’s also what appears to be a glockenspiel solo, but considering the song basks in Georgeson’s lo-fi approach, it could actually be a piano.

“Keep Me In Mind” is a more upbeat, slightly louder song that sounds like the closest thing to The Strokes you’ll get on Little Joy. With a twin-fuzzy electric guitar attack and added percussion in the chorus, the song simply asks “Even though we had to say goodbye, keep me in mind?” The very next song, the cleverly titled “How to Hang a Warhol,” continues with the garage rock guitars and is rather danceable: “Mama someday you’ll be proud of me/Someday you’ll see me hanging in a New York gallery” Amarante mumbles. Not to spoil it, but the song does have some of the best lyrics on the album.

“Don’t Watch Me Dancing” is another featuring Shapiro on lead vocals. She works well as a storyteller and her words ever so slightly slip from her lips. With mostly a couple of guitars and Amarante and Moretti providing backing vocals, she tells the story of Margarita. Whether she’s real, I don’t know, but she sounds interesting: “In conversation she’d often contend/Costumes build customs out of all dead-ends.” The song unfolds with a quick horn and strings section and chant before nicely dissipating.

Album closer, “Evaporar,” is simply Amarante strumming an acoustic guitar singing in portuguese. Rather peaceful, it’s a great closer to a laid-back album like such. While I don’t know what he’s singing, Amarante’s gentle mumble-of-a-croon is a perfect balance with the sound of the guitar.

If you really want Little Joy sound like a Strokes record, then it does. You can close your eyes and say if Julian Casablancas had a bit more range with his vocals, and was influenced by a lot of Beach Boys and Latin American music, then this is what the Strokes could sound like. But Little Joy deserves better. This album is a great little mellow affair (and I mean that in the best way possible) worthy of much more than just Strokes comparisons. It stands alone quite strongly and Moretti and Amarante can now boast they are (or were, in Amarante’s case) part of two great bands. Now if only Nikolai Fraiture’s side project, Nickel Eye, were any good, then we’d have a real battle royale between he, Moretti, and Album Hammond, Jr. over who doesn’t need the Strokes the most. Until then, go buy Little Joy and sit tight for that fourth Strokes LP.

Myspace: Little Joy

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