The Little Joy bar and lounge down on Sunset may have bummed out one hipster recently (the author of "There is no joy ..."). But the one-time down-low gay latino bar, hetero-hipster joint for years now, seems to have served inspiration to Fabrizio Moretti, of the major-label Strokes. Moretti and two friends recently formed a band called...Little Joy, in hommage to that little boite across the street from Meghna gas station. Little Joy's others are Binki Shapiro and Rodrigo Amarante, and their debut album was recorded in Echo Park.

There is a Devendra Banhart connection -- he lives in Echo Park, too. Press materials mention him, but don't say he participated in making Little Joy. Maybe he had a role in bringing the others to Echo Park (just as he is rumored to bring Natalie Portman visiting in her Prius).

Press package says:

Through a chance encounter at a Portuguese festival in Lisbon, where both Amarante
(Singer/Guitarist of Los Hermanos) and Moretti (drummer of The Strokes) had performed,
the two chatted well through the night and into the morning by the side of the river,
humoring the idea of working together on music that had no affiliation to their
particular bands.

Binki Shapiro, musician and native of Los Angeles, was introduced to the pair through mutual acquaintances and became a fast friend. ... Through the process of late night "show-and-tell" the three developed and arranged songs Moretti had begun and soon after started writing original music for the group as a band.

A couple of months later they all moved into a house in Echo Park to demo songs and soon after, with the help of producer Noah Georgeson, who had recorded Banhart's album, they finished their self-titled debut, Little Joy, named after the cocktail lounge just down the street from their home.

And the rest is...the future. The album (Rough Trade) will be released in November.