Little Joy

With some notable exceptions, like Lars Ulrich and Tommy Lee, drummers are usually pretty good at avoiding the spotlight. Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti blew his chance at stick-wielding anonymity when he dated Drew Barrymore at the height of his band's fame. Now he has another reason for people to pay attention to his life beyond The Strokes: his laidback, Latin-influenced pop-rock outfit Little Joy. The Strokes are still making noise about reassembling and banging out another album, but their members seem fairly creatively fulfilled in the meantime, and Little Joy should prove worth pursuing for Moretti and his cohorts–who include new galpal Binki Shapiro and Los Hermanos singer/guitarist Rodrigo Amarante.

Moretti is the main musical captain for Little Joy, while Amarante anchors the songs with his likable croon, supported by Shapiro's harmonies (and occasional lead, as on "Unattainable" and "Don't Watch Me Dancing," where she channels some of the L.A. country stylings of Jenny Lewis). The album kicks off with two lively sing-alongs, "The Next Time Around" and "Brand New Start." Echoes certainly remain from The Strokes and Los Hermanos, in part because of the vocal resemblance between Amarante and Julian Casablancas; the strutting rocker "Keep Me In Mind" is particularly close to the Strokesy sound. Whereas The Strokes were quintessentially New York, Moretti has gone off the reservation and wound up in L.A., and the likes of Gram Parsons and The Byrds have some influence here. Moretti also found his way (as so many do) to Devendra Banhart, and now is playing in Banhart's new Megapuss project, while borrowing Banhart ally Noah Georgeson for production on Little Joy. The Banhart-Georgeson influence helps cultivate a more free-spirited sound than The Strokes ever found. Named after a local bar and hipster hangout, Little Joy proves to be an accurate name for the band; there's nothing monumental about them, but their winsome melodies and good-natured chemistry is the stuff of simple pleasures for creators and listeners alike.

—Adam McKibbin
11.07.08

Attempting to compile a list of good side-project albums by drummers of successful bands is a task that will have you stumped almost from the beginning. It appears that Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti has done the impossible, though, with Little Joy, the band he formed in 2008 with Rodrigo Amarante of the Brazilian band Los Hermanos and Los Angeles singer/songwriter Binki Shapiro. Fab doesn't do the singing, but he wrote (or co-wrote) all the songs and provides a good portion of musical backing for Amarante and Shapiro's restrained vocals. Not only is the result not the embarrassment that some more uncharitable people may have anticipated, but Little Joy is a good -- sometime very good -- album. A laid-back and easy to digest album with no grand statements to absorb or deeper meanings to dig for, it's made up of simple songs recorded simply and sung sweetly. The variety of influences on display (like midtempo Memphis soul, lovers rock, bossa nova, early-'70s singer/songwriters, and sunshiny pop) gives you an idea of the mood the record conjures. The pieces are mixed and matched smoothly and with an ease and peaceful grace, making the record a joy to listen to. The hooky songs with summery grooves (the sweetly romantic "Brand New Start," "No One's Better Sake") and the semi-rockers (the kinda Stroke-y "Keep Me in Mind") are the first to grab you, but the quiet acoustic songs are just as nice. The gentle touch they display on "Unattainable" and "Don't Watch Me Dancing" is far from what you'd expect from the drummer of the Strokes, but it works perfectly for the trio. It's unlikely that this will become Moretti's full-time gig anytime soon, but he's using his downtime to the fullest with Little Joy. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide