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Office
A Night at the Ritz
(Scratchie/New Line)
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2007, Volume 14, #9
Written by John Metzger
It might seem as if Office has sprung out of nowhere, but unlike other
up-and-coming, indie-minded bands, most of whom are thrust on the public long
before they are ready, the group steadily has been refining its modus operandi
since the early part of the current decade. Oddly enough, the project began as a
series of sculptures by front man Scott Masson, though it quickly evolved into a
music-oriented endeavor. Masson’s solo debut, from which his current outfit has
taken its name, was steeped in electronic folk. After moving to Chicago,
however, he began ironing out the kinks in his approach, piecing together his
present ensemble, and shifting toward a more organic framework for his songs.
Office’s latest effort A Night at the Ritz bears the fruit of Masson’s
labors. Although it is the first album from the band to receive widespread
distribution, a majority of its contents have been floating in and out of the
group’s repertoire for several years. Essentially, it is a reconfiguration of
the collective’s independently issued 2005 set Q&A, the title track to
which also dates back to Office’s never-released 2004 endeavor Glass Corvette.
The nurturing that Masson has given his material is readily apparent.
Refreshingly, Office seems to be taking an old-fashioned approach to the
music business, and the group has managed its artistic growth through a careful
process of trial and error. Each iteration has been well-tested, and word has
spread about the ensemble not because Office sought the immediate and fawning
(but ultimately fair-weather) praise of the blogger community but rather because
of the reputation it has earned for its well-executed showcases at festivals and
industry conferences such as South by Southwest, CMJ, and Lollapalooza as well
as its extended engagements at venues like Schubas. It shouldn’t be a surprise,
then, that throughout A Night at the Ritz, Office sounds as fully formed
and convincing as the veteran acts it emulates. To be fair, the band has lost a
little of the edgy exuberance that typically graces breakthrough endeavors, but
what it has gained in terms of polish and focus more than makes up for this
deficiency.
There’s little doubt that Office wears its influences boldly on its sleeve.
Yet, the group deftly turns this tactic into an advantage. With a dense
arrangement and vocals that, at times, are a dead-ringer for Morrissey’s
angst-filled crooning, opening cut Oh My, for example, draws direct
comparisons to The Smiths. Meanwhile hints of The Cars, Smashing Pumpkins, and
John Lennon form the basis of Company Calls. Elsewhere, on Paralyzed
Prince, Office straddles the line between Queen and Frankie Goes to
Hollywood, and it sprinkles touches of Depeche Mode, U2, and The Knack into Wound Up, The Ritz, and The Big Bang Jump!, respectively.
The reason that A Night at the Ritz is so successful, however, is that
instead of trying to create an album that closely adheres to the architecture
employed by a few of its favorite bands, Office embraces an entire sub-genre of
college rock and bends it to its will. Reaching across the decades, the group
skips from place to place, following the links that bind its sonic universe
together. Rather than milking a single formula to death, Office uses A Night
at the Ritz to keep its prospective fans guessing where it might head next,
and although the set is hardly a groundbreaking enterprise, its infectious
melodies and smartly conceived songs provide a healthy method of escaping from
the day-to-day drudgery of modern life. 
A Night at the Ritz is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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