If you're a Strokes fan, you should be more than slightly concerned. It's not just the fact that the New Yorkers haven't released a new album since 2006; it's more that their members are churning out solo projects with apparent ease. Albert Hammond Jr. has already released two records, Fab Moretti's Little Joy impressed with their debut late last year, and now Nikolai Fraiture awkwardly slouches out of the shadows with his own endeavour.
Unsurprisingly, Nickel Eye - a four-piece comprised of members of little-known UK band South, and fronted by the bassist - is as far-removed from the stylised rock of his day-job as is possible. Owing more to the kind of exposed folk-rock that Calexico and American Music Club purvey (although nowhere near as intricate or well-played), 'The Time of the Assassins' is an acoustic-based record that's saturated with a downbeat tone. Fraiture's dour vocals, while reasonably adequate, are given a lift on most tracks by an echoed effect - although the use of AutoTune may have been more appropriate on several less-than-melodious numbers.
Nevertheless, there's enough decent content here, otherwise: 'You and Everyone Else''s breezy pop shiftiness is likeable, as is the Pogues-like 'Fountain Avenue' and the buoyant rock gurgle of 'Dying Star'. The last third of the short album, however, particularly the dreadful 'Where the Cold Wind Blows', insinuates a lack of inventiveness - a theory compounded by a shocking cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye'. Is Nikolai Fraiture the ambitious type, or is he happy to skulk in the corner and occasionally enjoy a few minutes in the spotlight? 'The Time of the Assassins', although enjoyable in parts, certainly suggests the latter.
