Office @ Schubas (5/2 & 5/8/2006)

Once in a while, you might catch a band performing at the local club that you haven’t seen before or know much about, and you’ll leave the show on some incredible high like you’ve just solved the meaning of life. You depart the club so impressed with what you witnessed that you begin to think, “That’s a band that deserves a fifteen year career!” For the Chicago-based band Office, this scenario would ring loudly as true.

On May 2, the four-piece band took up residency at Schubas, which will house the band on every Monday for the rest of the month as part of the club’s “Practice Space” series. Comprised of Scott Masson (lead singer/guitar), Alissa Noonan (bass), Erica Corniel (drums/vocals), and Tom Smith (guitar/vocals), Office is progress in motion.

Listening to the band on stage a number of possible influences come to mind. Elements of Cheap Trick, The Church, New Order, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Echo and The Bunnymen, and R.E.M. all seem to swim in this perfect harmony that comes across as being more a fresh spin than being flat out derivative. Guitarists Masson and Smith at times channel the sonic touches of Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and Peter Buck (R.E.M.). Bassist Alissa Noonan and drummer Erica Corniel lock gears and provide Office with a steady, pulsing dance groove underneath the guitar waves.

The band’s image on stage is just as engaging as the music. In this department, they borrow a page out of Cheap Trick’s book that even guitarist Rick Nielsen would tip his baseball cap to. Wearing business clothes the four members may look like extras in the movie Office Space, but the look plays as a fun novelty to the overall presentation. Office delivers a full package made up of deliciously arranged pop songs and lively imagery with a sense of humor (the band also incorporates one or two women on stage to act as secretaries complete with typewriters).

Building on the buzz of its self-released album Q&A and a successful spot at this year’s South By Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, Office is winning over audiences, one show at a time…you know…the old school way. There’s no hip music video to show on MTV’s Subterranean to get the word out there about the band nor is there some major record label putting its money behind Office to succeed on a grand mainstream level. This is a grassroots band that was conceptualized in 2000 by Masson while studying abroad in London.

Designing art sculptures inspired by the typical business environment of the office, Masson took the office theme and translated it into music. The result was an album recorded by Masson called Office. What followed a year later was The Ice Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls, which Masson recorded with friends in Chicago as a full band effort. By 2005, Office became a reality.

The band’s first night at Schubas was a tease. Although the show was solid from start to finish, there was a hovering feeling that Office had something else up its sleeve. Sure enough, the following week the band stepped up even higher, playing with boosted confidence. The look in their eyes was that of a band thirsty to put on a great show. The excitement was there from the beginning as concertgoers directly in front of the stage broke out in dance. Once again working from material off of Q&A, songs like “Oh My” and “Wound Up” had hips shaking along with every beat. Dance partners locked hands for a friendly sway to the Chicago love tale on the CTA Blue Line train called “Until 6pm.” The packed room responded not only with their approving cheers but also with their energy, fueling Office throughout the show.

Masson could be as sweet as he could be menacing behind the microphone, occasionally breaking away and entering these robotic convulsions. Noonan would shyly avoid eye contact with the crowd, either focusing on her play or staring off at her surroundings. But she would offer assurances that she was in fact having a good time by smiling to audience praise directed at her or by dancing along to the music she and her bandmates were performing.

Smith was the type of guitarist that you want to seek out after the show to have a couple laughs or, if you happen to play guitar, would want to join him on stage and play cover songs of The Who and The Cars. The smallest member of the band happens to also be the biggest member as the band’s drummer. Corniel goes by the book on the drums but she’s no pushover. If your head became her snare drum, she would beat it in pretty damn good.

All these characteristics together make up a band that you wouldn’t want to take your eyes off of or miss a single note. Office will complete its Schubas residency on May 22. Plans are also being finalized for the band to appear at this year’s Lollapalooza, a festival already packed with some of the best representatives of Chicago’s diverse music scene like Wilco, Kanye West, Common, Poi Dog Pondering, The M’s, Cameron McGill, and The Redwalls.

For more information on Office, check out the band's website: http://www.reachoffice.com

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda
(1st & 2nd Photos Taken 5/8 - 3rd Photo Taken 5/2)