I heard The Strokes for the first time during my freshman year of college. That was 2001, making me now, at least in relation to the primary demographic of the college town where I live, an extremely old man. I had consciously tried to avoid The Strokes phenomenon: they were all very handsome and well dressed, and all the girls I knew were in love with them. The New York scene they were trumpeting seemed so glamorous; they led the 21st-century rock ‘n’ roll revival; the songs were tight and catchy; and the father of the lead singer headed a modeling agency. Suffice to say, I was almost sick with jealousy.
Why the flashback to a distant world? Because one of the handsome devils from that band, drummer Fabrizio Moretti, now has his own side project: Little Joy. The band traces its origins back to a 2006 music festival in Portugal, where Moretti was introduced to Rodrigo Amarante, the lead singer of Brazilian favorites Los Hermanos. A year later, the duo were joined by Binki Shapiro, Moretti’s girlfriend and a multi-instrumentalist who plays both guitar and glockenspiel and contributes vocals to Little Joy’s self-titled debut album.
Named after a dive bar in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles where the band congregated, Little Joy is very restrained and also very good. The songs are playful: folky at times, but with a kind of lo-fi grittiness that makes you imagine the recording process. Two of the tracks are now my top-played songs, the summery 1950s throwback “The Next Time Around” and the delightful Portuguese ballad “Evaporar.” Simply put, Little Joy has produced an unassuming collection of gorgeously crafted songs. What more could a reticent Strokes fan ask for?
