Although they are certainly not a new or unheard of band by any means, I felt I had to start my blog with a posting about Company of Thieves, a local band that proudly hails from our wonderful city of Chicago. Although I’ve been following this group for years, it’s sad to think they are not bigger than they should be.
The group grew up in Elgin under the name Scheflo and you can find one my favorite older songs by them just below
Scheflo – the Bonnie Situation
They truly started as those groups who wandered from coffeeshops to open-mic-nights and found their way to Wind-up records by 2008. Their first CD, Ordinary 
Riches was recorded in one of the band members houses in the north side of the Chicago, and you can just tell by the organic, natural feel, the band has so much going for it. Their lead vocalist Genevieve has a set off pipes and can be described as a ‘revelation.’ Her voice is at times Bjork-like and at times Fiona Apple, but the power that she provides in each one of her song just leaps out of your headphones. Her guitarist, Marc was the only one that followed her from the Scheflo days and I’m insanely happy he did. The music is an indie,folk,acoustic,organic sound. I don’t know how else to describe it.
Company of Thieves – Oscar Wilde
As you can see, I’ve attached a number of photos from their live sets, and a video that perfectly the quirkiness of the group while playing their real breakthrough single ‘Oscar Wilde.’ I’m a huge fan of songs that continue to grow and progress, and Oscar does that in spades. Although it does have one of the catchiest choruses ever, the song never stops growing until it needs to slow down, build to the next part and continue in a completely different direction.
Below is their latest single from their newest CD which was released in May of 2011. Every band complains about the writing process from CD one (where they have their entire lives to write it) to CD two, but CoT was completely different. They were insanely excited about the opportunity to express and grow and develop a new sound to bring to a second CD. Running from a Gamble is exactly that. Genevieve’s musicianship grows and her band continues to give her everything she needs. It’s an awesome CD from a great band that I terribly excited to continue to follow over the coming years.
Company of Thieves – Death of Communication
I will leave you with a quote from Genevieve that perfectly captures the movement and sentiments of this band: “We have a fire in our hearts that is almost impossible to match – that moves as quickly as the train we met on. The truth is…we never got off that train. It’s ever in motion. This band is bigger than us. THAT’S the story.”
An ultimate favorite to end the post for today:
Company of Thieves – Won’t Go Quietly
Leave a Comment