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