BUZZ BANDS

Angela Correa (pictured) could have given the world “Women’s Participation in Urban Popular Movements in 1970s Mexico.” Honorable and, no doubt, heady stuff, but having set aside that master’s thesis to pursue songwriting, Correa later this year will instead release her debut album as Correatown, “Echoes,” a less academic but decidedly heartfelt take on human interaction. “I always want to write the fun songs,” she says, “but I always go back to real concerns and relationship issues.” Her vocals (a girl-next-door Regina Spektor) and storytelling (lyrically twining but never elliptical) suit her subject matter. “She has the voice of an old soul,” says producer Michael Andrews, who tabbed Correa to sing in the movie “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.” Yes, that’s Correa to whom Jenna Fischer’s Darlene is lip-syncing. “Michael just called me and said, ‘I need your pipes,’ ” Correa says, “and when I got to his studio, there was John C. Reilly and Jake Kasdan. In about an hour, we had the song -- I actually thought it was just a demo.” And to see Fischer “deliver” the song? “It was pretty awesome and surreal at the same time,” Correa says. On Jan. 22, Correatown will release a three-song EP that includes the “Grey’s Anatomy”-approved cut “All the World (I Tell Myself).” The timing of the release of “Echoes” (recorded at Raymond Richards’ Red Rockets Glare studio in Rancho Park) depends on whether Correa garners any interest from record labels. Live: Correatown opens for Radar Bros. at their residency Monday night at the Echo. ALSO: The Start rocks the Troubadour on Friday; the Gray Kid, backed by a full band, holds forth at the Echo that night. . . . And Sonic Youth-channeling local quartet Death to Anders celebrates the release of its sophomore album, “Fictitious Business,” on Tuesday at Boardner’s. More: www.latimes.com/buzzbands

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-- Kevin.Bronson@latimes.com