Cortez- Thunder in a Forgotten Town
(Buzzville Records BUZZCD023)


From Aural Innovations #39 (May 2008)

Cortez is a new Boston band born out of the ashes of several bands (Sin City Chainsaw, Fast Actin’ Fuses, Supersoul Challenger), none of which I had heard of. This is a 32 minute EP to give people a taste of what is to come. The High Life starts the CD with a mid paced stoner groove. It is nice to hear the band rip it open with some great guitar solos as well. What have you Done is next and starts with a wah guitar riff but again keeps the pace slow and groovy. It has quite a catchy chorus as well (“Can you feel it”). The Ocean has a really heavy riff and again is about the same speed as the previous two tracks. This one gets a bit more psychedelic in the middle. Lost Control starts with a riff that reminds me of something Wino would write. Slow, heavy, almost doomy and then the band picks up the pace. This speeds things up a bit and is a bit more of a headbanger. Stone the Bastards is the bands sort of political song…The CD ends with the 9½ minute Floodwater Rising, which takes it really slow and stoned, keeping it heavy and groovy until 6 minutes and then it becomes a windstorm for the last 3 minutes. I thought they would come back in at the end but they didn’t. I think fans of the Swedish stoner scene will dig this band quite a lot..

You can visit the record label Web site at: http://www.buzzville.be

Visit the band web site at: http://www.myspace.com/cortezboston

Reviewed by Scott Heller


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