Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, plans get all jacked up. The original plan was to have the Chicago band OFFICE into the studio September 23, a Sunday afternoon, as they were to make a long drive all the way west ‘til they couldn’t go no more to start a tour for the release of their first big release, A Night At The Ritz. We had some last minute conflicts come into play on our end that wouldn’t allow us to follow through on the original booking so we opted for postponing one day and getting them into the studio Monday afternoon instead. It’s probably better that it happened that way because even with the one extra day of packing and squaring all of the daily items away, the band was nearly two hours late (par for the course in our world) getting out of Chicago. When they got to the studio, we had just over an hour to set up, capture sound and record before a mandatory silent hour shuts us down in the late afternoon. It’s the price we pay for working where we work. We were putting the pedal to the medal, needless to say, and we completed the harried and sweaty session without any time to spare and actually bumping into the quiet hour by a minute or two. What resulted was a session that shows the punchiness of the foreshortened afternoon and the rake across the eyes raw tumble of the pure grit and unquestionable essence of a band that on record is covered in polish and loaded down with layers of instruments. We appreciate all of those layers and appreciate that the songs aren’t featherweights and still there’s that one band, one room, no chance or time for heavy-handed trickery or maneuvers sound that can make you sigh lustily – flaws or none. – Sean Moeller

First song
Not Her Style (OFFICE) [2.57MB] [1635 downloads]


– original version appears on Q&A
It’s a love song for a girl. Since I’m bi-sexual, I get some shit thrown at me from the queer community, and the straight community. I have folks telling me that I need to choose one way or the other, which is a load of rubbish. This song is about my girlfriend, who totally understands my situation, and never judges where my head’s at. I wanted to express my love for her exclusively, and also tell our skeptical friends that it’s really “none of their business” what we have going on between us. Sometimes it boggles my mind how white and black people can be. Really, it’s just a love song. There’s nothing else to it. Love is complicated, and good love songs are usually abstract and emotionally complicated. It’s the most difficult subject to write about, and every songwriter spends most of their career trying to connect the dots. They never really figure it out, do they?

Second song
Oh My (OFFICE) [2.05MB] [1567 downloads]


– original version appears on A Night At The Ritz
A simple song about romantic failure. The lyrics are really messed up, so that’s why the song itself needed to emphasize something sort of joyful to the ear. I love this idea of juxtaposing really dark imagery with happy sounds. It’s sadomasochism to the limit, baby!

Third song
Molly (OFFICE) [4.53MB] [1561 downloads]


– unreleased
This is Tom Smith’s song, and the first he’s written completely on his own for OFFICE. I love the tune, personally. It’s always been my goal to have more of a “collective” atmosphere in our band, but that is very difficult if I’m always writing all the songs, and producing all the recordings. I told him to write some songs with our band in mind, but I told him that they needed to be solid and not too complicated. The stuff that I heard from him before just wouldn’t fit OFFICE at all. He’s always had a very different approach towards songwriting, but I always knew he had the ability to write a pretty melody, as well as some great lyrics. This was the first time I heard a ballad out of him too, so I was really excited to let him sing. Plus, I like the break onstage, where I can focus on playing guitar, and let him sing for awhile so I can catch my breath. I’m excited to see what else he comes up with in the future. He’s a monster, and I think there will be a lot of people out there who dig his songs more than mine. He’s a poet, and I’m more of a lyricist. We’ve just reached that point in our band where we need to start throwing curveballs at each other, and at our listeners.

Fourth song
Ritz (OFFICE) [3.76MB] [1582 downloads]


– original version appears on A Night At The Ritz
Our most complicated song to date. It has a lot of parts, especially on our album recording. This is a good example of where our band is going lately. We want to create a bit of tension and release in our music right now. The thing with pop is that sometimes it can be handed over on a silver plate too often, or comes across as too saccharine. I’ve written a lot of short and simple pop songs, and now I’m trying to really test our band and my own limitations, and push the rule of 3-4 minutes as far as we can take it. The goal was to write something that was inspired by a dream I had, where the scenery carried with it many extremes. The verses are raw and dirty, and the choruses are pretty and pleasant. The bridge is where the two worlds sort of collide with each other. I don’t know. It’s surreal for me. Lower-class Super 8 motels vs. upper-class Ritz ballroom. Beauty vs. dirt. Pain vs. pleasure. “My sweet impossible friction”. There’s a lot of Serge Gainsbourg in the choruses. A little wink to Wire. Some Zeppelin. And even some Tone Loc “Funky Cold Medina”, I hope.