Song of the Day Spotlight - The Record Company "Life to Fix"

First off, I just like these guys, personally. They're three genuinely nice and, well... genuine folks. The Record Company came in, played live and chatted with me on the air a couple of times when I was with The Point. They're for real - true - authentic in who they are and what they're doing. Felt a real connection with Chris, Alex and Mark. That's Chris Vos, singer, harmonica and guitar player, Alex Stiff, bassist and producer, and Mark Cazorla, drummer and percussionist.

If I can get real for a second? I'm a horrible purist - I'm not one. I like blends, mixes, hybrids, melanges - purist expressions kind of bore me. Can't take too much pure reggae, or pure bluegrass, for example... or pure blues. Sorry. I need music to transcend its genre, if that makes sense. Hope it doesn't sound too musically arrogant. Can't help it - I just need something more.

The Record Company are the closest thing to pure blues rock that has moved me in a long time - because they do infuse the genre with something more, something extra - something original and purely them. I'm not exactly sure what that is - and that's okay. It just works.

Sometimes what elevates a deceptively simple band (what, a three piece?) is a bass player with a strong sense of melody, whose bass lines act as a sort of rhythmic lead. Mike Mills of R.E.M. is one example, often carrying the melody of the song while Peter Buck plays a rhythm part.

His production work on their recordings speaks to Alex's great ears - but it's Alex's bass playing that helps set The Record Company apart from so many of their peers. Kind of amazing something so solid, such glue holding it all together, can still be so damn fluid!

Don't mean to diminish Mark's contributions, either. A melodic bassist can't ride the melody if his percussionist doesn't give him a foundation he trusts and can rely on - Mark is solid. Yet he, too, plays with a sense of melody, as so many of the great drummers have, giving each piece in his kit its own voice. There's a certain funkiness within his precise timekeeping, too - not ostentatious but not, well... boring.

With this kind of foundation, Chris can then let fly - he knows the other two have his back. He can conjure up images, situations, free himself to sing about it all, knowing his brother bandmates are there to bring him in for a safe landing in the end. Doesn't hurt that he's got great pipes and can wail on both the guitar and harmonica, and knows how to work a crowd until they're sitting in the palm of his hand. His easy charisma draws you in, a humble shaman, not out to merely charm you but to rock your soul...

Their new tune "Life to Fix" - just out - encapsulates their dynamic beautifully, opening with Alex laying down the bass, Mark coming in on drums, and then Chris taking off on vocals and guitar. Not only does it highlight the band's strengths, it gives fans even more reason to look forward to the new album - sounds like they're both stepping it up, and staying true to themselves. And that sounds very, very good!

Actually, it sounds a lot like this:

The new album, All Of This Life, comes out June 22nd on Concord. It had been fun before talking with the band about how made their breakthrough album, Give It Back to You, in Alex's living room. In a new article in Jambase, Chris says, “After that first album, everything just got amplified.Our lives got crazier and bigger and more complicated in the best possible ways, and our sound and our songwriting just naturally grew alongside that. We’re the same people we always were, but The Record Company isn’t just three guys in a living room anymore.” (https://www.jambase.com/article/record-company-announces-new-album-shares-single-confirms-2018-fall-tour)

They may not be in the living room anymore, but they haven't lost their touch, their authenticity, or their ability to craft a kick-ass blues rock tune! Looking forward to hearing the rest of All This Life - here's hoping "Life to Fix" is a sign of great things to come.