Two More Strokes Members Roll Out Side Projects

While we eagerly await the band's fourth album, two members of the Strokes will attempt to keep us satisfied with a pair of side projects. First up, there's Little Joy, a trio featuring Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, Los Hermanos singer/guitarist Rodrigo Amarante and musician Binki Shapiro. The group will release their self-titled debut album on November 4th and celebrate with a tour through the states (follow the jump for their tour dates). Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture will also get in it the side project spirit with his alter ego Nickel Eye. Fraiture will release The Time of the Assassins on January 27th. Of course, Albert Hammond Jr. was the first Stroke to go on his own– he released his second solo album Como Te Llama? earlier this year.

Little Joy
November 7 - St. Paul, MN @ Station Four
November 8 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
November 9 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
November 11 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Hard Rock
November 12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Khyber Pass
November 13 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
November 14 - Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwells
November 16 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's Place
November 18 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat

Related Stories:
• Cover Story: The Strokes, Elegantly Wasted
• Album Review: Albert Hammond, Jr., Como Te Llama?
• Strokes of Genius: Hitting It Big Without Ever Combing Their Hair

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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