Little Joy

The Strokes have been on hiatus since 2006, and with no plans to reconvene until next year at the earliest, some of its members have been off doing musical side projects. Most visible thus far has been guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr., who's released two solo albums since '06, but drummer Fabrizio Moretti is now getting into the act with his new band, Little Joy. Named after a popular cocktail lounge in L.A.'s trendy Echo Park neighborhood, the group consists of Moretti — who in addition to drumming also sings and plays guitar, bass, and piano in the band — his girlfriend Binki Shapiro on vocals and guitar and Los Hermanos multi-instrumentalist Rodrigo Amarante (the trio is augmented by two touring musicians live). Though Little Joy's self-titled debut doesn't arrive until early November, a listen to the handful of tracks posted on their MySpace page finds the band happily engaging in laid-back, surfy '60s garage-pop with languid vocals straight out of the Strokes playbook.
Tue., Sept. 30, 8 p.m., 2008