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Vocal quartet brings throwback sound to Packard The Company Men
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
If the video for “I’m Tak- ing You Home,” the new single from the Company Men, brings to mind equal parts “Jersey Boys” and “Blurred Lines,” well, that’s the intention.
The Company Men are producing what they like to call “throwback pop.” It’s a blend of styles that borrows from Frankie Valli as much as Robin Thicke.
The vocal quartet has the moves to match, incorporating Motown choreography into modern top 40 video fare.
The unique rising act will bring its “throwback pop” act to Packard Music Hall in Warren this Thursday night.
Not surprisingly, the slick act formed in 2011 in Las Vegas, where they were thrown together for a Four Seasons tribute show.
Daniel Tatar, one of the Company Men, explained how the group — which also includes fellow Californians Shawn Perucca, Stuart Ambrose and Brian Purcell — started during an interview while waiting to catch a plane at California airport.
“We all had an interest in singing, and all had family and 9-to-5 jobs, when we serendipitously found ourselves in Vegas,” said Tatar. “It literally started in a hot tub, where we first started talking and thought it would be a good idea to leave our jobs and start a band.”
The act’s early trademark was mashups that blended two or three songs, usually an oldie and a current tune, into one piece held together by the beat.
Some examples of these mash-ups include the Temptations’ “Get Ready” morphing into Katy Perry’s “Firework,” and Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers’ “Little Bitty Pretty One” becoming Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” and then Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”
It was a formula that caught on quickly and led to an album release and a slew of casino gigs and corporate shows.
Last month, the Company Men released their second album, the aptly named “#throwbackPOP,” which abandons the mash-ups in favor of original material done in, of course, “throwback pop” style.
Those who catch the act at Packard this Thursday can expect to hear a lot of the new songs but also the popular mash-ups.
“On this tour, it’s a nice combination of mash-up and originals,” said Tatar. “We want to introduce the audience to our new sound and play what they already know.”
The familiar songs and their retro-cool look are paying off for the Company Men, who are in the middle of a North American tour. “Audiences are singing to us,” said Tatar.
The downside of any tour is the extended time away from family. Tatar said he and his bandmates are making the best of it.
“We’re always face-timing on our phones with the kids,” he said. “It’s hard, but they’re very supportive. They can see how hard we work.”
The quartet, which tours with a seven-piece band, is playing all types of venues on the current tour — everything from intimate club shows to accompaniment by a symphony orchestra on a large stage.
The Warren show is in the oversized Packar Hall, a theater-type venue, and Tatar’s favorite setting.
“It’s neat to play in all different types of venues,” he said. “It keeps it fresh, and the audiences are very different in say, a casino, than a performing-arts center.”