The Record Company

Californian roots rockers are still rough around the edges.

The Record Company performing onstage.

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

We are The Record Company and we play rock’n’roll,” announces Chris Vos as the Californian trio takes the stage. Given how closely that echoes the way Lemmy always introduced Motörhead, that’s a bold gauntlet to throw down, and it’s too early in the musical lives of Vos, bassist Alex Stiff and drummer Marc Cazorla for them to walk in such hallowed shoes.

Tonight marks their first headline show in London after opening for Blackberry Smoke on their last visit to these shores. They kick off with Goodbye Sad Eyes, an early misstep as it requires Vos to sit down with his slide guitar. But the energy soon kicks in when he’s up on his feet for On The Move and quickly has the crowd behind him. Vocally, the frontman has a rich, soulful delivery in the spirit of JJ Grey, although The Record Company can’t manage to rival the stylistic versatility of Grey’s band Mofro.

“We’re a lean, mean rock’n’roll machine,” declares Vos, but their sound is really a mixture of swamp rock, blues and Stooges’ proto-punk. When Vos takes a guitar solo, he plays lead-rhythm, thrashing out chords rather than moving around the scales. Stiff and Cazorla have a very particular mid-tempo pocket where they feel at home and hopefully as they move beyond the material from their first album they can expand their rhythmic palette.

There’s a dash of the Bo Diddley beat in Don’t Let Me Get Lonely and more variety in the grooves can only be a good thing. That said, their no-frills style and knack for call and response, demonstrated in Feels So Good and The Burner, whips the London audience into a state of ecstasy. They wrap with Freddy Cannon’s rockabilly stroller Tallahassee Lassie, played raw and ragged. Bags of energy and potential here, but there’s work to be done.

David West

After starting his writing career covering the unforgiving world of MMA, David moved into music journalism at Rhythm magazine, interviewing legends of the drum kit including Ginger Baker and Neil Peart. A regular contributor to Prog, he’s written for Metal Hammer, The Blues, Country Music Magazine and more. The author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction To The Martial Arts Film, David shares his thoughts on kung fu movies in essays and videos for 88 Films, Arrow Films, and Eureka Entertainment. He firmly believes Steely Dan’s Reelin’ In The Years is the tuniest tune ever tuned.

Latest in
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
The Mars Volta
“My totalitarian rule might not be cool, but at least we’ve made interesting records. At least we polarise people”: It took The Mars Volta three years and several arguments to make Noctourniquet
Latest in Review
/news/the-darkness-i-hate-myself
"When the storm clouds clear, the band’s innate pop sensibilities shine as brightly as ever": In a world of bread-and-butter rock bands, The Darkness remain the toast of the town
Sex Pistols at the RAH
"Open the dance floor, you’ll never get to do it again." Forget John Lydon's bitter and boring "karaoke" jibes, with Frank Carter up front, the Sex Pistols sound like the world's greatest punk band once more
Arch Enemy posing in an alleyway
Arch Enemy promised they'd throw out the rule book for Blood Dynasty. They didn't go quite that far, but this is the boldest album of the Alissa White-Gluz era - and it kicks ass
The Darkness press shot
"Not just one of the best British rock albums of all time, but one of the best debut albums ever made": That time The Darkness added a riot of colour to a grey musical landscape
Roger Waters - The Dark Side of the Moon Redux Deluxe Box Set
“The live recording sees the piece come to life… amid the sepulchral gloom there are moments of real beauty”: Roger Waters' Super Deluxe Box Set of his Dark Side Of The Moon Redux
Cradle Of Filth Press Shot 2025
Twiddly Iron Maiden harmonies, thrash riffs, horror, rapping (kind of) and sexy goth allure: The Screaming Of The Valkyries is peak Cradle Of Filth