Upon entering The Echo this past Tuesday night, what caught my attention was the glamourous amount of decor running along the side of the bar to the ceiling of the center stage. Santoros‘ third album release was displayed in balloon letters “EL PERDEDOR,” piñatas, and shiny streamers reflected back the high spirits in every performing act.
I arrived too late to see the L.A. band Cigarette Bums, but caught half of Cutty Flam’s set. The three piece band with two frontmen and female drummer, got the crowd bobbing to their vintage spin on doo wop with dashes of punk rock. Two robots’ hearts representing their debut album adorned their set.
When Solar Sons came on I couldn’t help but be taken back to a time I never was a part of, back to the ’70s when Jimi Hendrix swooned everyone with his gestures and of course musical being. At this point the crowd was feeling themselves, with the sound of the congos guiding their swaying hips and arms.
A much anticipated wait for the stars of the night, Santoros started off their set with “Rabbits” featured on both their 2013 album release Animals and latest release, El Perdedor. This was my third time seeing these señoritos, and I noticed every time its pretty hard to find someone in the crowd not having fun during their set. The immediate mosh pit was no surprise in response to their notable garage rock sound. I was definitely all smiles when one of my favorite songs off the album, “Leo” came on. Not only was the band celebrating their tape release via Burger and Lolipop Records, but it so happened to be the lead singer Jossef’s birthday! Towards the end of their set Santoros had the crowd begging for more, granting us with “She Doesn’t Love Me Anymore,” a single off their 2012 release Ancestros.
(On a sidenote, did anyone catch the skeleton luchador piñata? Adorbs.)
Words: Brissa Sanchez
Photography: Andrew Gomez
Santoros perform at The Hi Hat in Highland Park on Friday, Dec 30 as part of The Golden Tongues ‘Extractions’ EP Release. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online or at the door.
