I don't remember American indie rock ever sounding as big as it does right now. Maybe it's the democratization of professional recording methods through technological advancement, but from the Arcade Fire, Interpol, and the Walkmen to Band of Horses and Okkervil River, everything sounds gigantic, on the brink of anthemhood regardless of subject matter. It could also be a matter of bands trying to stand out from an ever-thickening mass of groups, and what better way to do that than to make music that wields a bigger, clearer hook than the competition?
Whatever the reasons, count Office as another small-budget band with a big-budget sound. The Chicago quintet is more interesting than its boring, un-Googlable name would suggest, applying 21st century indie rock grandiosity to late-1970s pop moves. I hear shades of ELO, the Bee Gees, and even Queen here, with hints of early XTC and the Posies. There are lots of close backing harmonies (with female band members filling in for what might have been male falsettos on their influences' records) and the production has a neon feel-- bright and colorful with a bit of a buzz.
In fact, the biggest criticism of the record is that the switch is always all the way on, and it gets to be a little much over the course of a whole album. When they finally do try something different, on closer "Suburban Perfume", it's something of a relief, because we finally get to hear a side of the band that isn't full-throttle rhythm and actually indulges in some introspection. Main songwriter Scott Masson performs the song mostly on acoustic guitar, with an excellent assist from keyboardist Jessica Gonyea, who complements the song's wistful, nostalgic tone and lyrics with a sort of grab-bag of late-60s/early-70s textures.
But while one of the best songs sounds very little like the rest of it, there are several tracks in the band's bread-and-butter style that are just as good. "If You Don't Know By Now" has a massive, instantly memorable chorus and a lead verse vocal that dances in a nimble sing-speak across drummer Erica Corniel's rhythm, which is reminiscent of ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky". Tom Smith even gets in a quick, snappy guitar solo. "Company Calls" (no resemblance to the Death Cab song) has an even hookier chorus, with a rapid-fire call-and-response, and verses are well arranged, with a bass part that cuts in and out and double-stop dynamic shifts that keep the listener guessing.
That kick-snare-kick-snare "Mr. Blue Sky" beat crops up on several songs, including "Paralyzed Prince", which is pretty good apart from an awkward spoken bit in the middle. The band's stab at hard rock, "Had a Visit", is brief but satisfying, and "The Ritz" finds them at their most glammed-out. A few songs don't quite measure up to their ambitions-- "Q&A" is both the least memorable of the bunch and the longest, while "Wound Up" just doesn't grab the way many of its counterparts do.
Office is a band, though, that can weirdly get away with a filler track here and there, because they still sound reasonably powerful even at their lowest points, and Masson kicks out plenty of lyrical nuggets like, "I'm carving a pumpkin/ In your resemblance/ With a dull knife/ Leaving jagged edges," to snap your attention back his way. In the end, it's an album that's dominated by its high points but still mostly satisfying.
