Little Joy

Biography:
Little Joy is Binki Shapiro, Rodrigo Amarante and Fabrizio Moretti, three friends who dropped their routine at their respective hometowns to make a record in Los Angeles, California.
Through a chance encounter at a Portuguese festival in Lisbon, where both Amarante (Singer/Guitarist of Los Hermanos) and Moretti (drummer of The Strokes) had performed, the two chatted well through the night and into the morning by the side of the river, humoring the idea of working together on music that had no affiliation to their particular bands. A year later, Amarante traveled to the United States to record with Devendra Banhart on his Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon album. On the off hours of an arduous recording process, Amarante would meet with Moretti to discuss anything but music.
Binki Shapiro, musician and native of Los Angeles, was introduced to the pair through mutual acquaintances and became a fast friend, encouraging the two to focus on the music they had spoken of long before. Through the process of late night “show-and-tell” the three developed and arranged songs Moretti had begun and soon after started writing original music for the group as a band.
A couple of months later they all moved into a house in Echo Park to demo songs and soon after, with the help of producer Noah Georgeson, who had recorded Banhart’s album, they finished their self-titled debut, Little Joy, named after the cocktail lounge just down the street from their home.
Rolling Stone Review:
Along with Albert Hammond Jr.'s restless solo career, Fabrizio Moretti's new band suggests that Strokes side projects are an astonishingly great idea. Named for an L.A. cocktail lounge and sounding like one, the trio are fronted by Rodrigo Amarante, a polyglot Brazilian rocker who comes off like a languid Julian Casablancas. Binki Shapiro is the group's Nico, adding delicate vocals and glockenspiel to the lullaby-ish "Don't Watch Me Dancing" and the reggae-inflected "The Next Time Around." With Moretti on guitars, drums and backing vocals, the vibe is closing time at the Beachcomber: songs that conjure mid-20th-century pop with Jamaican, Hawaiian and bossa nova flavors. Like Vampire Weekend, it's indie rock getting its global groove on.
WILL HERMES
(Posted: Nov 13, 2008)