Tuesday, September 19, 2023

The Record Company - The 4th Album

Album: The 4th Album
Size: 88,6 MB
Time: 38:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2023
Styles: Blues/Rock/Roots mix
Art: Front

1. Dance On Mondays (4:08)
2. I Found Heaven (In My Darkest Days) (5:04)
3. Highway Lady (4:35)
4. Patterns (3:59)
5. Talk To Me (4:02)
6. Roll With It (3:32)
7. Bad Light (3:30)
8. Control My Heart Blues (3:15)
9. I'm Working (3:07)
10. You Made A Mistake (2:54)

The Record Company are a swaggering three-piece rock band with a lean, rootsy sound, but don't call them a blues act. While the blues is a major ingredient in their sound, they approach the music in their own way, blending the influences of foundational artists like Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed with the tougher and more upbeat attack of early rock & roll. The group was formed by three friends who went from listening to old records to playing music inspired by their favorites. Performing small venues for small money, the trio developed a serious buzz in their hometown of Los Angeles, and soon shared bills with major artists, landing a record deal in 2015. Their debut album, 2016's Give It Back to You, was a strong roots rock session that garnered a Grammy nomination, and 2018's All of This Life was more eclectic in its approach, but just as passionate. 2023's The 4th Album split the difference between no-frills tunes and hard-grooving rhythms.

The Record Company were formed in 2011 by three serious music fans who had each moved to Los Angeles from the Midwest and East Coast - Vos from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; bassist Alex Stiff from Wayne, Pennsylvania; and drummer Marc Cazorla from Elmira, New York. Stiff and Cazorla first met during their college days, when they both played in a rowdy blues band that often headlined at frat parties. Once he graduated, Stiff moved to Los Angeles, and after a spell in Nashville, Cazorla followed suit, and the two friends rented a house together to save money. Vos, who grew up on a dairy farm, followed a whim and headed to Los Angeles in 2010 with his wife, and he met Stiff and Cazorla after placing an ad on Craigslist looking for like-minded music buffs.

The three men struck up a friendship and would regularly get together to share favorite sides from their extensive vintage record collections over beers. The guys made the jump to forming a band when Cazorla bought a battered drum kit at a garage sale. After posting some rehearsal recordings online, the trio, now known as the Record Company, began playing out, appearing at smaller clubs and record stores where the cover was low (or free) and curious listeners could easily check them out. The strategy worked, as the Record Company developed a significant following in their hometown, and they graduated to larger venues and festival dates, as well as opening for the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Blackberry Smoke, and Social Distortion.

In 2013, they put out a five-song EP, Feels So Good, that captured their rough-and-tumble sound on vinyl. In 2015, the Record Company took their sound overseas as they toured Europe for the first time, and that same year the group landed a record deal with Concord Music Group. Their debut album, Give It Back to You, was released in February 2016. The single "Off the Ground" earned radio airplay, and the LP got a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Second album All of This Life was recorded at Boulevard Recording in Hollywood with the bandmembers themselves producing, and appeared in June 2018.

After lots more touring and popping up on TV and film soundtracks (their music was used in the movies Bad Moms and Live or Die in La Honda and on the television series Nashville, Seal Team, and Bloodline), the group returned to the studio to record their third album. Before they started on the big project, they took a creative detour and cut an EP, Side Project, that found them reinventing a handful of covers, including tunes by Willie Dixon, INXS, and Cypress Hill. The EP came out in June 2021, with the LP Play Loud, appearing four months later; it added more contemporary rock and blues touches to their music while still sounding fierce at heart.

Though Play Loud was well-received by reviewers and fans, Concord wasn't satisfied with its sales figures, and they dropped the Record Company from their roster, this while the group was wrestling with the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on their touring and recording schedules. The band responded with 2023's The 4th Album, an LP that took their sound back to its essentials while adding a lean, funky accent to their rhythms. The 4th Album was the Record Company's first release under a new deal with Round Hill Records. /Biography by Mark Deming, AllMusic

The 4th Album mc
The 4th Album gofile

7 comments:

frankie said...

Many thanks RR

frankie said...

Just looked out of curiosity, currently 96 downloads and that's just on gofile and just one thanks & that's from me. Come on guys show some thanks! Thanks again Red.

Bluestender said...

@Frankie

All my posts have at least, 250 downloads. In some cases, more than 500. The majority of them, don't have a single comment. Nowadays, this blog, became a leecher blog.
Maybe I should password my files, lol

Red Rooster said...

You're most welcome Frankie, glad you enjoyed the post. And regarding your observation there is just a small number of you visitors that make comments and say thank you for the stuff we post here, which is a bit of a shame actually. To me it means that most people who visit this blog take us for granted and don't show any appreciation for the work we do. Sadly, I guess we will have to live with that. Thanks for your comment though, it's appreciated.

frankie said...

Hmm, and people wonder why some blogs don't last!
Peace love and "respect" to the admin here & the few regulars who share and help out. As for all the lowlife leechers, did your mother never teach you anything about saying thank you, it seems not!

Happymonk said...

Thanks Rooster.

Red Rooster said...

You're most welcome Frankie, glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for your comment, it's appreciated.