Nice to see Little Joy's bar in Echo Park getting rep'd on Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti's new band of the same name's first record (self titled).  He's out there with his equally attractive gf,  LA native and waifish Nico copycat Binki Shapiro (Binki?  Really, LA, really?) and guitarist Rodrigo Amarante of Los Hermanos (as if we should have heard of them by now).  It's as confectionery as Strokes records were but in a lot of the right ways.  Much of the Strokes signature is there, Fab's vocals are laced with the same filters Julian Casablancas used, as if crunched up and fed through a old radio.  The drums are a basic as it gets, melodies come as easy as a day on the beach or last call on a slow night with lyrics that ape Buddy Holly earnestness.  But unlike the Strokes here there's a bit more than a little south american/caribbean influence, nothing easily placable, bit of bossa nova, bit of Tootsish reggae. I suppose I'm also supposed to mention that the guy who produced Devendra's last record produced this, so maybe that accounts for the elusive globe pandering.  Don't expect anything more than posturing (one of their songs  is called "How to Hang a Warhol"), but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone better at it than Strokes alums.  Confession:  I actually really hope I run into them at Little Joy's sometime, cause I'd, like, smoke cigarettes near them.

No One's Better Sake