Office (band)

For other uses of this term, see Office (disambiguation).

Office

Office is a Chicago based rock and roll band which has been in existence in one form or another since 2001. It started off as a "folktronic" project back in the year 2000, with only Scott Masson armed with a drum machine, piano, and an acoustic guitar. Sick of having that much pressure, Scott found comrades Tom Smith, Erica Corniel, and Jessica Gonyea. The band is known throughout the Chicago indie rock community for their quality songwriting, higher-level production standards, inspired live performances, neutral positioning within their own competitive musical scene, and complete disregard for most critical feedback they receive, whether positive or negative. They have been somewhat successful in the last few years promoting a sound that has been described by SPIN (magazine) as "handclaps and sunny harmonies", which is ironic, since the lyrics are far from "sunny and fun". Their song "Wound Up" was downloaded over 322,000 times as the Single of the Week on the iTunes Music Store in May 2006, helping their "demo album", 'Q&A', reach numer 14 on the iTunes album charts, briefly beating out Tom Petty and Neil Young. This was all very bizarre to the band, since they recorded the album in Scott's bedroom. This self-released demo album was released in 2005, and the group experienced unexpected success following its release. The album held a spot in the iTunes top 100, while the band was performing shows at South by Southwest music festival in 2006 and 2007, CMJ, Mobfest, Midwest Music Conference, a set at Lollapalooza, and many more high-profile showcases. In October of 2006 the group signed with New Line Records and Scratchie Records, an independent label owned by James Iha, guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins. The band is currently managed by Matt DuFour, owner and director of UR Chicago magazine, and head of EnPrise Entertainment.

The band's first release under the label is entitled "A Night at the Ritz," and was released on September 25, 2007. The album is an introduction to the band, based off of material from the group's extensive catalogue, some new tunes, and a few extra tid-bits thrown in. Since the band has written nearly 100 songs since its inception in 2000, this debut compillation ironically serves as a sort of "greatest hits" collection for people who have heard before of OFFICE before. The material has been remastered for official release under Scratchie Records, and the band has already finished writing more than 20 songs for their next album, which will be quite different from what the public has heard before from this project in the past.

A Night at the Ritz (2007)

1. "Oh My"
2. "If You Don't Know by Now"
3. "The Ritz"
4. "Company Calls"
5. "Wound Up"
6. "The Big Bang Jump"
7. "Plus Minus Fairytale"
8. "Paralyzed Prince"
9. "Had a Visit"
10. "Q&A"
11. "Dominoes"
12. "Possibilities"
13. "Suburban Perfume"
14. "Walking the Cow" (iTunes only bonus track)

Q & A (2005)

1. "Wound Up"
2. "Oh My"
3. "The Big Bang Jump!"
4. "If You Don't Know By Now"
5. "Busy With Other Things"
6. "Q & A"
7. "Until 6PM"
8. "Not Her Style"
9. "Ordinary Offices, Extraordinary Proposals"
10. "Had a Visit"
11. "Dominos"
12. "Possibilities"

Glass Corvette [unreleased] (2004)

1. "Introduction"
2. "Q & A"
3. "Glass Corvette"
4. "The Remedy"
5. "Poor Rich"
6. "Into Your Network"
7. "Wicker Park Party!"
8. "Reality TV Show"
9. "Busy With Other Things"
10. "Until 6PM..."
11. "Suburban Perfume"
12. "Good Cops"
13. "Twelve Months"
14. "Pulmonary Lounge"

The Ice Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls (2002)

1. "Loverdriver"
2. "Plus/Minus Fairytale"
3. "Weathermaker"
4. "Superfoolfantastic"
5. "Reaching For A Laser Beam"
6. "Company Calls"
7. "Bar Yellow"
8. "And You're So..."
9. "The Ice Tea Boys and the Lemonade Girls"
10. "Until I Find You..."
11. "Mosquito"

Office (2001)

1. "Traffic Jams"
2. "Cash/Money Killionaire"
3. "Paint the City and Faces With Yellow"
4. "Squeeze the Distance"
5. "Bizmox"
6. "Gas Mask"
7. "Wireless"
8. "The Program"
9. "Toy Piano"
10. "Cakeheads"
11. "Message Machine"

External links

• Office Official Website
• New Line Records Website
• Scratchie Records Website
• Office on MySpace