Hey, so-so news, everyone! Little Joy, a.k.a. “that Strokes off-shoot band that’s not quite as solid as Albert Hammond, Jr.’s thing but not as much of a whole-assed trainwreck as Nickeleye,” is hitting the middle-of-the-road this June for a medium-sized tour of decent-enough U.S. venues!
You may halfway remember that, back in early 2008, Strokes drum machine Fabrizio Morretti joined up with collaborators Rodrigo Amarante and Binki Shapiro in Los Angeles to record what would become Little Joy's mostly okay self-titled debut album (TMT Review), which was released last November by Rough Trade to more-positive-than-not response.
Now, two-thirds of the tepid trio, Rodrigo (vocals and guitar) and Binki (vocals, keys), will set out to spread the little joy of Little Joy without Fab (though concert-goers shouldn't be surprised if ol' boy pops in to make an occasional handsome appearance on stage), as he will for the most part be occupied with, you know, being the click track for the rest of The Strokes.
Luckily, all of these bands sound pretty much the same at the end of the day (oh, come on, they do, its okay), so Rodrigo and Binki will fill out the lineup with Todd Dahlhoff and Matt Borg from The Dead Trees (on bass and guitar, respectively), Matt Romano from Albert Hammond, Jr.'s band (drums) and Jack Dishel from Only Son (guitar, backing vocals). And you know what? They’ll probably do a capable job. More dates to come.
Little Joy C+ Tour:
06.02.09 - Santa Barbara, CA - Club Soho
06.03.09 - San Francisco, CA - Independent
06.04.09 - Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
06.05.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
06.08.09 - Austin, TX - The Independent
06.09.09 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada
06.10.09 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Studio
06.12.09 - Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar
06.13.09 - Birmingham, AL - The Nick
06.14.09 - Newport, KY - Southgate House
06.15.09 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
06.17.09 - New York, NY - Beacon Theatre *
06.19.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Khyber Pass
06.20.09 - Boston, MA - Cafe 939
06.21.09 - Fairfield, CT - Stage One
06.23.09 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
* Regina Spektor
