Rooney

Rooney, a rock band from California, made their first live appearances in the early 2000s by opening for the more seasoned Phantom Planet, an L.A. outfit that likewise drew from classic pop acts such as ELO and the Beach Boys while sharing a family tie. Robert Schwartzman, the driving force behind Rooney and younger brother of actor and onetime Phantom Planet drummer Jason Schwartzman, had grown up in Hollywood and briefly pursued acting before shifting his focus in the early 2000s to writing bright, retro-tinged guitar pop. By the close of that year he and his bandmates—Taylor Locke on guitar, Matthew Winter on bass, Louie Stephens on keyboards, and Ned Brower on drums—had signed with Geffen/Interscope.

Although the group explored working with Ric Ocasek, they ultimately returned to Keith Forsey, whose earlier demo work had secured the deal. Rooney’s self-titled debut appeared in 2003; its visibility rose sharply the next year after the band was featured on Fox’s teen drama The O.C., the first of many acts to benefit from that placement. Also in 2004 the live DVD Spit and Sweat documented their growth from young players into a road-tested unit.

Recording for the follow-up began later that year with Tony Hoffer, but the finished project was abandoned even after several tracks surfaced on MySpace. A second attempt, produced by Howard Benson and begun in fall 2005, was also dropped despite being planned for a 2006 release, as tensions with the label mounted. After touring with Kelly Clarkson in 2006, Rooney completed a third set of sessions, this time with John Fields, resulting in the slightly darker yet still melodic Calling the World. Issued in summer 2007, the album entered the Billboard charts at number 42. Continued friction led the band to leave Geffen in 2009.

That same year Rooney celebrated their independence by issuing the EP Wild One on their own and mounting a short tour. They soon aligned with Warner Bros. for the self-produced Eureka, released in June 2010. Although bassist Matt Winter performed on the album, he exited months before its arrival, with Brandon Schwartzel taking his place. Support for the record had largely faded by the end of 2011, after which Rooney entered an extended hiatus.

Schwartzman stayed active with two solo albums and a pair of film scores. In early 2016 he announced that he had finished a new Rooney album entirely on his own; Washed Away appeared in May 2016 as the band’s fourth LP and was promoted live by a fully rebuilt lineup. The single “Second Chances” followed in June 2017, preceding the El Cortez EP that arrived the next month.