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Company of Thieves - stealing away your music loving heart.

You always end up meeting some guy "in a band" when you're in college. But when you attend one of the largest art schools in the United States, you end up meeting about a thousand or so guys who are "in a band." So it's very nice when one of those guys who you passed by in the dorms actually ends up making really great music and actually garners some success.

Enter Company of Thieves, a local Chicago act who are getting quite the attention lately with their pop hook laden rock music. I first heard of the band from a former roommate who is friends with the drummer, the said guy who I passed in the dorms and knew as one of the many "guys in a band" that stopped by our apartment that year. He was a nice guy, liked good music, so being the good-natured music lover that I am, I headed to Myspace to give them a listen. Even as a relatively new band at the time, they possessed raw talent, a vocalist that was out of this world and excellent songwriting skills that I knew would provide them with some much deserved success in the future. Thankfully my premonition of success became true - as the band not only just returned from their first NYC showcase; but also recently released their debut album, Ordinary Riches, earlier this year. They even had their very first blurb about them in Billboard and for a band that is less than two years old, all of this is a pretty impressive feat.

The debut album is full of incredibly mature and catchy songwriting, something that is usually lacking in many bands today. The guitars shimmer as they blend perfectly with Mike Ortiz's precise and tight drumming - creating a warm yet full sound to their music. But the icing on the cake is vocalist Genevieve Schatz, who has such a clear and classical (yet also unique) sounding voice. Schatz passionately delivers the songs with finesse and grace without missing a beat.

The great news is you can catch the band soon in Chicago. They'll be playing the UR Chicago/WOXY showcase at Schuba's on October 21st. They will also be opening for The Smoking Popes at Dominican University later this week on October 5th. If you're up for a little road trip and like the Smoking Popes - I suggest you head over to both shows this month and get a double dose of this on the rise Chicago band.

Ordinary Riches is available now on Itunes.

Posted by Lisa White on Oct 02, 2007 @ 12:00 am