Every time someone mentions The Record Company I immediately hear Alex Stiff’s opening bass line on “Off the Ground,” the first track from the band’s debut album, Give It Back To You.
Dun-dun-dun-dada-dun… dun-dun. Dun-dun-dun-dada-dun… dun-dun.
It’s funky. Heavy. Driving. A thick, muscular groove that is anything but shy. It jumps from the speakers to hit you squarely in the gut. But there’s no time to relax because once Marc Cazorla’s drums lock into place and Chris Vos’s guitar and vocals come charging through, that gut punch becomes an uncontrollable full-body jolt. Head shaking; hands tapping; feet stomping.
When first released ten years ago, “Off the Ground” didn’t merely catch my attention. It delivered everything I needed in a song: blues with some weight, rock with some teeth, and just enough funk in the hips and soul in the lungs to keep the groove moving. Then I listened to the album.
“Don’t Let Me Get Lonely,” “Rita Mae Young,” “On The Move,” “Hard Day Coming Down,” “Feels So Good,” “Turn Me Loose,” “Give It Back To You,” and “This Crooked City.” Ten tracks. Thirty-nine minutes. No wasted space. Just enough time to find a new favorite band.
Give It Back To You went on to earn a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album and produced multiple AAA radio hits, but its real achievement was simpler: it felt fresh. True, the album had echoes of Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker, and even the ragged swagger of The Rolling Stones — but it never tried to be them. It was raw without being sloppy. Traditional without being trapped. A reminder that even in this new century, the blues can still burn and rock can still roll.
Now, a decade later, The Record Company rolled back into Chicago to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Give It Back To You. But it wasn’t a victory lap. It was a celebration of an album that still packs a punch from a band that still knows how to deliver them. And deliver they did at Chicago’s Thalia Hall.
The band opened with “Baby I’m Broken” (the killer 2017 single that followed the release of Give It Back To You) and “How High” (the chart-topping hit from their third album, Play Loud). They then turned to the album of the evening, throwing down “Don’t Let Me Get Lonely,” “Rita Mae Young,” “On the Move,” “Hard Day Coming Down” and “Feels So Good” before pulling out “Stay Up High,” a previously unreleased track from the Give It Back To You sessions that can now be found on the newly released deluxe edition of the album. “Gotta Be Movin’” (Play Loud), “Last Lonely Winter” (a great new acoustic number) and “Life to Fix” (All of this Life) followed, before the band closed out their main set with the remaining songs from Give It Back To You: “Turn Me Loose,” “Give It Back To You,” “This Crooked City,” “In the Mood for You,” and “Off the Ground.”
As for the encore, an out-of-left field cover is not unusual for the guys (e.g., The Beastie Boys’ “So Wat’cha Want”). This night was no different with the band rolling out a cover of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” before closing with “I’m Getting Better (and I’m Feeling It Right Now)” from All of this Life. It was another stellar show from The Record Company, if not a reminder for me as to why I still love this band.
