Just an Animal's debut album "Lonely Hunter" (out Tuesday) marks a radical turn for the Los Angeles quartet formerly known as Red Cortez, and it's almost all for the better. Gone is the self-conscious, guitar-heavy rock 'n' soul of the foursome's early recordings, which (first under the name the Weather Underground) produced a series of EPs and some DIY releases but never a full-length album. In its place, Harley Prechtel-Cortez, Ryan Kirkpatrick, Diego Guerrero, and Calvin J. Love have found an organic, spacey take on soul-pop that broadens the quartet's sonic palette and injects some out-and-out fun into [...]
For Harley Prechtel-Cortez, Ryan Kirkpatrick, Diego Guerrero, and Calvin J. Love — the guys Los Angeles knew as Red Cortez — it was a matter of "recalibrating our ears." That's how Kirkpatrick described the quartet moving on and becoming Just an Anima l, whose music bears only a faint resemblance to the amped-up rock-and-blues Red Cortez, a band that as recently as February did a residency at the Satellite. Few groups who carved out a niche in the L.A. scene in recent years tried as hard as Red Cortez, who started out as the Weather Underground, and [...]
Contributed by Christopher Gedos Everest, Richard Swift and Red Cortez played at The Satellite (formerly Club Spaceland) on Monday, February 28th. It was the final Monday for Red Cortez's residency. They played 4 free shows and gave away 4 free EPs (different each week) throughout the month. It was either the final Spaceland residency or the first Satellite residency, and I'm sure the crowd would've been at max capacity were it not for the unnecessary, corporate-driven name change. Five piece Everest was Neil Young's backing band on the legend's most recent tour. I could [...]
Top shows to take the chill off your Monday night: ► Richard Swift makes magic as much as he does music. The former SoCal resident, now ensconced in Oregon and releasing music on Secretly Canadian, deals in various strains of baroque, chamber, ragtime, lounge and folk pop, making it all sound timeless. I can recommend every album he's made, and a few videos , and while we're at it, the album Starflyer 59 made when he was in the band, "Old." Tonight at the Satellite, he will be joined [...]
Best stuff from tonight's embarrassment of show riches: ► The legendary Gang of Four wind up a 13-date U.S. tour tonight at the Music Box behind their new album "C O N T E N T." Opening are energetic Canadian pop-rockers Hollerado — their one-take video for "Americanarama," above, has gotten them a bunch of attention. ► Eastern Conference Champions (new album "Speak-Ahh" on the way April 26) open for Red Cortez on the third week of the L.A. quartet's residency at the Satellite. The Mid [...]
[Playing a little weekend catch-up ...] For a band that hasn't yet released a full-length album, Red Cortez has a pretty formidable catalog of songs. That much is evident in the sets the L.A. quartet has played the first to weeks of their Satellite residency, and in the free, four-song EPs Harley Prechtel-Cortez (pictured) and gang are releasing each week this month. The EPs, a combination of demos and finished songs (some dating to when the band was called the Weather Underground), showcase the [...]
RED CORTEZ, EVEREST, AND COLLEGE KIDS ON MONDAY FEB. 14TH AT THE SATELLITE, 1717 SILVERLAKE BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES. 8:30PM/ FREE/ 21+
Just in time for tonight's kickoff of its residency at the Satellite, Red Cortez has released the first of four free EPs the L.A. quartet will issue this month. Some of those songs figure to be a taste of the hard-charging rock'n' soul planned for Red Cortez's long-awaited debut album "Virgin Ideas." The foursome of Harley Prechtel-Cortez, Ryan Kirkpatrick, Calvin J. Love and Diego Guerrero has been stoking the flames of anticipation since they started (as the Weather Underground) three-plus years ago. These freebies are a mix of demos, alternative versions and finished tracks; physical copies will be [...]
So much free music, so little time: ► Red Cortez kicks off its residency at the Satellite by releasing the first of this month's four free EPs. [Watch this space for a link later today.] Supporting tonight will be Herman Dune (frontman David-Ivar performing solo), the Silent Comedy and Rocco Deluca . ► Very good lineup for the opening night of Jenny O's residency at the Bootleg Theater — Everest and the Belle Brigade are also on the bill. Above, Jenny O's video for [...]
► Red Cortez is throwing everything it has at this month's residency at the Satellite. Well, not everything, because Red Cortez has a wealth of music, the best of which will emerge on the L.A. quartet's debut album later this year. But some of the rest of the songs will be released in the form of free EPs, one per week for each week of the residency. The music, some new songs or alternate versions and some tunes dating back to when the foursome was known as the Weather Underground, will be issued digitally on the [...]
Over three-plus years of fine-tuning their steamy blues-rock, Red Cortez must've played more than a dozen slots supporting residency headliners. Now the L.A. quartet is getting their first residency — in February at the Satellite — and just in time. The foursome of Harley Prechtel-Cortez, Ryan Kirkpatrick, Calvin J. Love and Diego Guerrero is putting the finishing touches on their debut album "Virgin Ideas." Recorded in sessions with two producers, Ethan Johns and Kevin Augunas, the album follows last year's self-released "Hands to the Wall" EP (and three EPs they made as the Weather Underground). "Virgin [...]
KITTEN, SAINT CORTEZ, AND RED CORTEZ ON TUESDAY DEC. 7TH AT THE ECHO, 1822 WEST SUNSET BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES. 8:30PM/ FREE/ 21+.
Favorite shows on a huge weekend: ☛ Dr. Dog , Here We Go Magic and Good Old War tonight at the Wiltern ☛ Cold War Kids tonight at the Glass House in Pomona and Saturday at Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown ☛ Small Black and Class Actress tonight at the Echo ☛ Colour Revolt and the Pity Party at the Bootleg Theater ☛ Florence and the Machine and Grouplove on Saturday and Sunday (and [...]
Dig this: New York City four-piece the Dig — not to be confused with old '90s faves Dig — named their band in honor of the movie "Dig," the Brian Jonestown Massacre/Dandy Warhols documentary. (I know, that's a lot of Digs in one sentence.) The Dig's sometimes-atmospheric, always-hooky indie-rock only has a little bit in common with the movie's purveyors of psychedelia, though. "Electric Toys," the debut album from singer David Baldwin, singer-bassist Emile Mosseri, keyboardist Erick Eiser and drummer Jamie Alegreir, has the radio-friendly pop-step of bands like the Strokes and Editors (with whom they've [...]
Top 1 show for a special occasion if were in charge of the special occasion: ☛ Teenage Fanclub and this blogger go way back. Not quite to when I was teenage, but I got "Bandwagonesque" early and never hopped off. Tonight, the Scottish quintet visits the El Rey Theatre behind their new album "Shadows," supported by their Merge labelmates and all-around good L.A. guys Radar Bros. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a good story I wish I'd written . If you want to catch up, the 2003 compilation [...]
[Happy birthday to ex-Drop Nineteens frontwoman, former Beantowner and current L.A. songstress Paula Kelley ... Now, on to the weekend's festivities:] Check out LA Weekly's West Coast Sound for my roundup of weekend outings. Here's a handful of my favorites in a jam-packed weekend: ☛ The Watson Twins , back from 15 dates last month supporting their new album "Talking to You, Talking to Me," play the Bootleg Theater. That's their video for "Savin' You," above. ☛ Helen Stellar [...]
[It's Friday the 13th, but here at Buzz Bands HQ we only believe in the luck of the set times:] Going somewhere this weekend? Some picks ... ☛ The Dollyrots and their spitfire singer-bassist Kelly Ogden keep the pop-punk flame alive on their new album, "A Little Messed Up." They celebrate the the release, their third full-length, with a show tonight at the Bootleg Theater. ☛ British quartet Wild Beasts bring [...]
[I swelter, therefore I am. ... Oh, and happy birthday, Jeremy Enigk. Come back soon.] Top 5 reasons to be outdoors this weekend: ☛ The Swell Season , She & Him and the Bird and the Bee team up for a hand-holder of a concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night. ☛ MGMT gives you another chance to like its sophomore album "Congratulations," tonight at the Greek Theatre. ☛ John Doe and Exene , supported [...]
Why was the plug really pulled on HARD L.A. this weekend? The Times' initial blog post cited security reasons, possibly stemming from the public outcry over the death of a 15-year-old festival-goer at the recent Electric Daisy Carnival. The updated post has promoter Gary Richards declining to comment when point-blanked on whether slow ticket sales were behind the cancellation. And Flying Lotus tells the LA Weekly blog that he heard "it was about ticket sales." Those poor M.I.A. fans. ☛ Tickets go on sale Friday [...]
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