Strokes Side Project News

Although members of The Strokes have said the band's hiatus will end in February, bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti seem to be taking their side projects a little more seriously lately.

Moretti's Little Joy just released their self-titled debut album. Moretti plays drums, guitar, piano, bass and sings backing vocals in Little Joy. He's joined by multi-instrumentalist Rodrigo Amarante and his girlfriend, singer/guitarist/percussionist Binki Shapiro. Little Joy will promote the album with a Dec. 12 show at Vancouver's Plaza Club.

Fraiture recently announced details about his solo debut, which will come out under the oh-so-witty Nickel Eye moniker. Fraiture is backed by members of British rockers South on The Time Of The Assassins, which will hit stores on Jan. 27 through Rykodisc. You can hear four of the disc's songs at Nickel Eye's MySpace page.

Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. released his sophomore solo album, Como Te Llama?, earlier this year.

Here are the songs on The Time Of The Assassins:

"Intro (Every Time)"
"You And Everyone Else"
"Back From Exile"
"Fountain Avenue"
"This Is The End"
"Dying Star"
"Brandy Of The Damned"
"Providence, RI"
"Where The Cold Wind Blows"
"Another Sunny Afternoon"
"Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"