The workplace romance between Scott Masson’s unnerving, corporate-themed visual art and his hodgepodge of musical side projects has finally gotten serious. He’s found four bandmates to settle down with and produce a full-length for wide distribution. (Masson has been self-releasing albums and EPs as Office since 2001.) A Night At The Ritz will not disappoint already baited Office fans—or any new-wave junkie, for that matter. It’s a mod-rocking record with catchy melodies and riffs as sharp as Office members’ signature black suits. Ritz is the culmination of five years’ worth of woodshedding, and you can hear the musical evolution in the quirky differences from track to track. Album opener “Oh My” plays with catchy melodies, while strange moments on tracks such as “The Ritz” are too far out to be pop. While Office hints around at the business theme on “Company Calls,” the LP doesn’t lean on it for substance. Masson’s crew of professionals freshens up the standard art-pop subjects of dancing and X-ray vision with a witty take on the business world and, in the process, creates a synth-pop gem that hangs together with B-52’s-inspired serendipity. [www.newlinerecords.com]
—Lavinia Jones Wright
