Long Live Rock!
Chris Vos and The Record Company prove that the grumbling of rock's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
The Record Company crashes through the gates like a bar band that remembers what made rock & roll dangerous in the first place—sweat, soul, and a disregard for sheen. They’re not here to intellectualize or modernize the blues into some limp Spotify-core nonsense. No, they grab it by the gut, wring it out, and plug it straight into a wall of amps.
This music is blues-rock that bleeds, sweats, and kicks the door down.
A power trio in the old-school sense—Chris Vos on vocals and guitar, Alex Stiff on bass, Marc Cazorla on drums—The Record Company built their name on stripped-down rock & roll, the kind that nods to John Lee Hooker’s stomp, The Stones’ looseness, and The Stooges’ raw minimalism. Not exactly reinventing the wheel, but in a post-Black Keys, post-White Stripes world, they found their lane and stuck to it.
Their debut, Give It Back to You, was both a promise and a mission statement. While “Off the Ground” became an alt-radio staple, all bluesy swagger and garage-rock punch, it would be the Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album that proved the industry was paying attention.
The Record Company aren’t here to outthink rock & roll—just to strip it down, rough it up, and let it breathe.
With their next album All of This Life, they doubled down. “Life to Fix” had the kind of singalong chorus and boot-stomping rhythm that felt made for beer-soaked barrooms, but they weren’t just bashing out riffs. They accomplished one of the hardest things of all, a precision in their looseness, a skill in making things feel tossed-off when they were anything but.
Their third release, Play Loud, was where they loosened the reins just enough to let in some bigger hooks and sharper production. “How High” and “Gotta Be Movin’” didn’t abandon the grit, but made it clear these guys weren’t afraid of accessibility. You could hear the difference—less back porch, more arena—but the heart of the thing was still beating loud and proud.
On The 4th Album, they circle back to their roots, adding enough reinvention to keep things fresh. “Talk to Me” and “Dance On Mondays” confirm that their formula still works because it never pretended to be anything other than what it is: rock & roll that gets straight to the point.
They’ve picked up their fair share of critical love, landed songs in commercials, TV and film, and toured with the likes of Bob Seger, John Mayer, and Blackberry Smoke.
More importantly, they’ve built their reputation on sweat-drenched live shows where the amps hum and the grooves hit hard. In a genre that too often feels lost in nostalgia or hollow imitation, The Record Company is a reminder of what makes it exciting in the first place.
Lead singer Chris Vos swung by Thunderlove Studio recently, and Geoff and I got to dig into all of it—albums, influences, and keeping it real in a music landscape that doesn’t always reward the real thing.
A rock band called "The Record Company"?!?
Color me anxious to start a record company called, "The Rock Band"! Headline.....this just in: "The Rock Band has just announced the signing of a long-term contract with The Record Company! Terms have not been disclosed, but, it's believed to be in the range of tens of dozens of dollars."😂