Music Monday with PLC is a weekly feature written by my husband, Pat.
Find out the back story + check out the full archives HERE .
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Company of Thieves
[photo by jennifer; review by pat]
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I am not feeling well. These colds and stuff have been passing from person to person to person to me. I remember being sick as a kid was a lot easier. You would get a day off from school, and in my case, that meant I was able to spend all day watching TV in my parents' bedroom. Sure, there were only four channels back then, but four channels were still better than having to struggle through the multiplication tables. Bewitched, Mr. Ed, I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith; with friends like these who needed classmates. Then when my Mom’s “stories” were over, it was over to the “big” TV for Lost in Space. Those were the days. Nowadays, not feeling well means nyquil, sleep, and some exciting music to bring back the mojo.
The part of rocking music this time around is played by the new band Company of Thieves and their new album “Running From a Gamble” (2011 Wind Up Records), the second album from this group of twenty somethings out of Chicago, Illinois. It is full of solid, well-written, well-played and well-produced emotional guitar rock. And in these days of repetitious-sludgy-guitar-drum-machinery next big things, COT definitely qualify for a shot at the title.
Check out this album’s first single “Death of Communication” making its way into the ring -
The group is led by the fancy fret work of Marc Walloch and the introspective lyrics and powerful voice of firecracker front woman Genevieve Schatz. Sure, I could dip into the bag of female vocalists we all know to draw comparisons here, but that would only muddy up the water. Rather, I think this album should be listened to, and is a success, for its emotional power-of-music quality. Schatz’s vocals complete the picture with confidence, where a male voice singing in the same style may come across as simply macho. Remember back in school when you had to write a good and bad quality about a classmate? The good qualities were easy, but most kids would take the easy way out for the bad qualities also: “He cares too much.” In that same vein, the only thing I can say is that after the whole album, sometimes she can sing with “too much emotion.” I would like to hear a few songs were she dialed it back a bit just to mix it up on the phrasing. But what do I know, I’m hopped up on nyquil.
In fact, I could have sworn that they nailed a drop dead Stax style monster should-be-hit with the song Tallulah -
Company of Thieves are in a van touring the country right now bringing their music to the masses. Do your part and check them out. You will be glad you did.
- PLC
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MORE:
- last week - Boz Scaggs
- last month - Bash & Pop
- full archive of Music Monday with PLC - HERE
