Recently, The Strokes axe man, Albert Hammond Jr. released his sophomore album, ¿Cómo Te Llama? Putting The Strokes hiatus to good use.Even more recently, fellow band mate and Strokes drummer, Fabrizio Moretti has decided to jump on the side project bandwagon by creating, ‘Little Joy’ with fellow Brazilian Rodrigo Amarante.

‘Little Joy’ is a three piece Brazilian/American indie rock band with origins in Echo Park. Their self titled debut album sounds at times like the album The Strokes could make if they decided to mellow out and take a vacation to the Caribbean, to make softer sounding music than their usual post-punk garage rock revival with cuts like "Keep Me in Mind." Songs like "Brand New Start" and "With Strangers," however, sound nothing like The Strokes (even at their softest), but instead are the tracks that give ‘Little Joy’ their distinct identity as an alternative rock band who sounds at times like post-modern longing, and at others like budding optimism. Portuguese phrases and rhythmic acoustic guitars along with Amarante’s well trained voice (from years of playing with ‘Los Hermanos’ prior to ‘Little Joy’) all merge to create placid indie rock on the verge of faux bossa nova that leaves the listener in a peaceful reverie.