New Music: Office - "Nobody Knows You" (Plus: The band gives away album for free)

Download: Office - "Nobody Knows You"

There are two types of album delays, and neither one is good. First, there's the times when both band and label delay an album's release because they are trying to polish a turd. The second is arguably worse: when a band's album is delayed because of label troubles, which means that a group's work is drowning in label bureaucracy. The latter is how you get lost classics like Slowdive's Pygmalion, for example. The newest effort by Chicago-based power-pop band OFFICE, titled simply Mecca, doesn't quite fit the lost classic label, but there are a handful of gems, one of them being the irresistible "Nobody Knows You". It's a great example of the band's blend of new-wave, power-pop, and multi-layered harmonies. Listen to it at the top of the post.

Download Mecca here

Cross-published on CIMI.

Live Review: OFFICE - 12/19/07

(OFFICE - Photo by Tara Rogan)

Download: Office - "Oh My"
Download: Via Audio - "We Can Be Good"

I don’t know if it’s the fact that 400 Bar is just a great venue, or if it’s pure luck that I always see fantastic shows whenever I go there. The Via Audio/Tigercity/OFFICE show on December 19 was no exception, as it was nothing short of wildly entertaining and extraordinarily diverse, both in terms of sound and the crowd itself.

The turnout was excellent, which I always like to see when there’s a night chock-full of amazing artists who are just starting to be seen and heard in a vast sea of indie-pop. Patrons ranged from young hipster kids to middle-aged wine drinkers who were looking for something different to do on a Wednesday night. It was a perfect crowd for this eclectic mix of bands who provide a little bit of something for everyone.

Via Audio opened the show promptly at 9, and with the onslaught of male and female vocal pairings these days (Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, West Indian Girl, to name only a few), these Brooklyn kids up the antie and showcase the vocals of all 4 members on several of their songs. Vocalist/guitarist Jessica Martins is a tiny little brunette spitfire with a voice that’s velvety and bittersweet, reminiscent of St. Vincent’s Annie Clark and Portishead’s Beth Gibbons. Martins was like an audio chameleon, shifting from melancholy to giddy to sad to giggly, all the while contorting her body and enrapturing the crowd watching. On tunes like ‘Modern Day Saint,’ Via Audio’s vocals and instrumental backdrop meshed like a mini indie-pop choir, with a perfect formula of catchy lyrics and addictive melodies.

Current Brooklyn residents Tigercity followed suit, sounding like trashy, sleazy disco meets 80s Lionel Richie meets modern indie pop. In other words, they’re in a class all their own. Seeing Tigercity live solidified two things for me: that this band is ridiculously fun to hear and to watch, and that vocalist Bill Gillim can seriously hit some mean falsetto notes live as well as in the studio. They played a majority of the tracks from their newest EP Pretend Not to Love, songs that are first-listen friendly with pop-soaked synthesizer melodies and hypnotic harmonizing vocals, echoing Prince during the Purple Rain era. "Are You Sensation?" and "Other Girls" played like Tigercity’s anthems to the sequined, glamorous nightlife vibe, and for a few moments, lost in the trance of their infectious sound and keyboard rhythms, I swear to you I forgot that I was in Minneapolis and not New York City.

OFFICE’s Scott Masson took the stage solo with his guitar for their first song, and dedicated the song to his grandfather, who watched quietly from the back of the bar. It was bittersweet and lyrically poignant, reminiscent of old Weezer tracks with only Rivers Cuomo and his acoustic guitar: and it was a great segway into OFFICE’s more raucous pop stuff that they’re known for. ‘Company Calls’ brought even the wallflowers from the dark corners of the bar out onto the floor, to shake their money makers and watch the amazing talents of this truly great indie-pop band. Keyboardist Jessica Gonyea barely let her feet touch the ground as she flailed her tambourine, while bassist Tom Smith hopped from the stage to the audience and back again, which prompted many raised beers as well as hoots and hollers for his effort. All I saw of drummer Erica Corniel was a tornado of hair and sticks, and the occasional open-mouthed smile or laugh. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a band have this much fun playing live. Don’t miss Chicago’s OFFICE next time they roll into town. They’re famous for their amazing live shows for a reason, and a 2 song-encore that night only solidified their reputation.

Office MySpace Page

(Tara Rogan)

Office, The 1900s Do Daytrotter Sessions

Office


The 1900s



Download: Office - "Suburban Perfume"
Download: The 1900s - "Georgia"

MFR Favorite Office stopped by the Daytrotter studios to do a session and you can listen to the results (as well as read the interview with the Chicago quintet) here.

In addition, the Daytrotter newsletter revealed that fellow Chicagoans and fellow MFR favorites The 1900s are going to do a session sometime in the near future. No details about when that will happen, but those of you in the Chicagoland area can tune into WGN's Morning Show on the morning of Nov 8th. The band will go on between 7 and 8 a.m., so it won't just be your morning coffee that will make you jump for joy.

Office MySpace Page
The 1900s MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Quick Reminder: Earlimart, Office and The Alpha Centauri at 400 Bar...Tonight!

Earlimart

Download: Earlimart - "Everybody Knows Everybody"

Band Website
MySpace Page


Office

Download: Office - "Company Calls"

Band Website
MySpace Page

With The Alpha Centauri.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and show starts at 8 p.m. at the 400 Bar.

Tickets cost ten dollars. Buy them here.

(Jonathan Graef)

Office - A Night At The Ritz

Download: Office - "Oh My"
Download: Office - "Paralized Prince"

Office
A Night At The Ritz (Scratchie/New Line, 2007)
Grade: A-

If brevity is the soul of wit, then the latest record by Office, A Night At The Ritz is almost as sharp and smart of a pop record as any group could hope to make. Those who were disappointed by the more reflective, melancholy artistic direction that the New Pornographers took with Challengers need not worry if they think that their melodic sweet tooth would not be indluged this year. There are enough synth-driven hooks; effortless, efferfescent harmonies and taut guitar riffs to make any person who likes their power-pop with a little new-wave gloss swoon with giddy delight.

Even if you didn't know that A Night At The Ritz is the Chicago quintet's debut album (for former Smashing Pumpkins's guitarist James Iha's record label, Scratchie), you probably would have figured it out based on the fact that Office sequenced all of its punchiest, most hook-filled tracks to appear at the album's beginning. Songs like "Oh My," "Company Calls" and "Wound Up" showcase the band's economical, maximum-impact rhythm section, coo-ing female backup vocals and highly charged, quick-witted songwriting. The first six songs are on this album are magically upbeat and unfold with a devestating success rate. There is not a single note played or sung that won't satisfy the listener immensely.

The second half, however, changes gears, with the musical emphasis being placed on more midtempo songs like "Q&A", "Dominoes" and "Parliyzed Prince", which is a surprisingly apt homage to Queen in a sea of compact power-pop pieces (perhaps the title A Night At The Ritz is a tribute to Queen's A Night At The Opera). None of these songs are actively bad - in fact, upon multiple listens, they are as fantastic as the material that came before - but they do rob the album of some considerable momentum. It's hard for the listener to adjust at first. Imagine crashing after the best sugar binge of your life, and you'll have good picture of what I am trying to convey.

But just because you don't necessarily succeed at gear-shifiting doesn't mean you've screwed the pooch in terms of how your album plays. Once you've recovered from your high-fructose music coma, you see that Office still have the songwriting chops of Ritz's first half in tact, just at a slower pace. While the shift may have prevented Ritz from becoming an immediate classic, it doesn't prevent it from being one of the best local albums of the year. For a debut record, that's a pretty good consolation prize.

Office play tomorrow night at the 400 Bar. The show is 18+ and starts at 8 p.m. Buy tickets for the show here

Office MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

***They will be opening up for Earliamart, but going on after The Alpha Centauri, an indie-rock band from Minneapolis with Eastern and electronic influences. Click on the link in the previous sentence to hear a Fall 2007 demo from the band called "Noise." I can't even begin to describe how hypnotically amazing the combinations of different styles is in this track. The song manages to incorporate all of Radiohead's post-OK Computer catalog and put it into an electronic, free-jazz blender. Needless to say, it's a tad avant-garde, but also quite listenable.

Steamy Video By Office

You may have seen this on or the Chicago Reader's Crickets blog, but I still think that this video by Chicago's pop-tastic Office (who have a album, A Night At The Ritz, that comes out a week from today) is still worth watching. Slightly NSFW.

Office will be at the 400 Bar on Oct. 2nd. Show starts at 8 p.m. and is 18+

MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)