Little Joy : S/T :: Review
Little Joy is the side band of Fabrizio Moretti (The Strokes), his girlfriend Bikini Shapiro and Rodrigo Amarante (Los Hermanos). Having met at a Portuguese festival in Lisbon where both had performed, Moretti and Amarante struck up a friendship and decided to pursue musical projects together. Taking the name of a cocktail lounge in Los Angeles, Little Joy was formed. With the guidance and production of Devendra Banhart, the result is a record that is both retro and somewhat futuristic. Little Joy is decidedly mellow with its bossa nova grooves.
While listening to this album I was continually reminded of the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby road movies, with Bikini Shapiro playing the foil between Moretti and Amarante. The album opens with “The Next Time Around” a Latin tinged campfire sing-along with dreamy three part harmonies. Oddly enough, the angular guitars riffs of The Strokes have been replaced by the jaunty rhythm of a ukulele on this track. “Brand New Start” is a breezy number that sounds like it could have played on the jukebox for the past thirty years.
Other highlights, “Unattainable” and “Don’t Watch Me Dancing” feature the coy lead vocals of Bikini Shapiro. Backed by a spare guitar and harmony vocals this recording sounds like it could have been a rarity from the early 1950’s. “With Strangers” follows suit, and seems to be an answer to the lyric that “Unattainable” posed. The first single, “Keep Me In Mind” and “How To Hang A Warhol” finds the group reverting to lo-fi vocals and pointed rhythms reminiscent of The Strokes. By the time closer “Evaporar” comes around, you’ll want to hear the album again.
