Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture embarks on solo project

At first glance, Nickel Eye, the nom de plume of a certain rock bassist's solo project, is slightly troubling. Its use of monetary/body part phrasing may cause the interested party to form a correlation with a much, ahem, different, band that employs a very similar formula with its moniker.

But fret not, music snob, as you'll be delighted to know, that the mystery man behind Nickel Eye is Strokes' bassist Nikolai (See that? See what he did there?) Fraiture, and not, in fact, any such member of the top-40 "modern post-grunge" genre.

Nickel Eye's first album, The Time of the Assassins, doesn't have an official release date, but we hear it should be out soon. The debut features contributions from Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs as well as Regina Spektor, and has already received an endorsement from Mark "Everything I Touch is Gold" Ronson.

Although The Strokes are rumored to be heading back to the studio in the near-ish future, the members' enthusiasm for various side projects would suggest otherwise. Albert Hammond Jr. recently released his second solo album, ¿Como Te Llama?, Fabrizio Morreti's got a project called Little Joy in the works, Nick Valensi has lent his mean guitar licks to many a collaboration, and Julian Casablancas, well, he's all about him some Converse.

Alone or together, we won't complain, just as long as the young men of The Strokes keep the good tunes coming.

Related links:
YouTube: Nickel Eye - "Brand of the Damned"
The Strokes on MySpace
Review: Albert Hammond Jr. - ¿Como Te Llama?

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