“Off the Ground,” the title of the first track off The Record Company’s debut album, perfectly describes the experience of seeing them live—something I did Thursday night at the Pageant. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen them perform: Last year, at Loufest, I tussled with a 34-year-old woman in a sparkly rave-suit to be closest to the stage where the band was playing (it ended in a draw). I was reminiscing about this particular memory while waiting for the band to come on, when the lights went out and the sound of thundering drums broke me out of my daze. Bassist Alex Stiff (don’t let the name fool you, he’s very dynamic), drummer Marc Cazorla and guitarist/harmonica player Chris Vos strode onto the stage. After a flash of red light, a slick drum intro and a crunchy guitar riff, The Record Company launched into their 2016 single “Baby I’m Broken,” and I knew it was on.

For those who don’t know, The Record Company is a Los Angeles-based band formed in 2011. They got together and started playing and recording music for fun, writing and recording what would become their debut album in one of the band members’ living rooms. Music from the album has been featured in various media, such as the movie “Bad Moms” and the popular shows “Shameless” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” just to name a few. Chances are that even if you haven’t heard of the band, you’ve probably heard them anyway.

All three members of the band are multi-instrumentalists and each member puts their skills on brilliant display. For example, after “Baby I’m Broken” came to a halt, frontman Vos traded in his growling guitar for a Silvertone microphone and a harmonica as the band transitioned to “On the Move.” Vos’ harmonica filled the void left by the guitar as he joyfully wailed between verses and sang with the crowd. Besides harmonica, Vos also busted out some lap slide guitar—which, as a slide guitar enthusiast myself, was glorious to watch. Vos’ stage presence throughout the show was something to marvel at, as he duckwalked, kicked his guitar, jumped up and down, headbanged and flopped around the stage like a bass in the bottom of a boat (I recommend student bands here take notes—we’ve got too many kids standing and staring at the floor).

Cazorla usually takes up the drums. However, he would occasionally step off the kit and sit down at a piano, banging out some old-school, boogie-woogie style playing while a hired gun would take his place at the drums. He was tickling the ivories in such a way during a cover of the Rolling Stone’s “Let it Bleed.” With Vos on greasy slide guitar and Cazorla banging the keys, the band dumped jet fuel into the tank of the 50-year-old tune.

Stiff handled the occasional harmonica while Vos played guitar and would take up guitar himself a few times. But his main strength is the bass, as Stiff’s hand goes up and down the neck like a spider with a cocaine problem. Many of the band’s songs start with Stiff laying down a deep, distorted, thick (and I mean stupid thicc) bassline, that gets nailed down by a drum groove from Cazorla, which itself is slathered by Vos’s harmonica or guitar playing. All three came together to produce a romping rock and roll tune that had the audience jumping up and down, screaming the lyrics, playing along on air guitar…Oh, apparently I was the only one doing this.

It wasn’t fast and loud the whole way through, though. Sometimes the band would take a break from the scorching guitar and crashing drums and play some more sentimental tunes. “For this next song, close your eyes and try to remember a time when you were just a little kid growing up…It’s worth remembering the good times,” said Vos, before the band went into “The Movie Song,” which tells of Vos’ childhood memories in school and with his father. Vos also maintained a lively rapport with the crowd, telling tales and cracking jokes in between every song as if he were with a few friends at a bar instead of the stage.

“I remember when we first came to St. Louis. Like, 30 people showed up and we were so excited,” Vos remarked, before saying that it looked like somebody had been spreading the word. He also commented that although he loved playing music, it’s tough being on the road for so long. “It creates this kind of beautiful ache inside you, when you’re doing what you love but you’re away from what you love.” He went on to say that this ache is what drives lots of their songs.

The energy from the group was practically electric, and I found myself dancing along to almost every song, interrupted only once by two drunk, 40-year-old women who got a little too close for comfort. But you know what, it was all in the name of a good time. The group played two encores: The first was their own “You and Me Now,” a slow, washy emotional number more on the acoustic side. The band then closed out the concert with an incendiary rendition of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” which left me with blistered feet and wide eyes. Remember the scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” when the bad guy looks inside of the Ark of the Covenant and has his face melts? That’s what being in the audience was like during this number, except IT WAS AWESOME.

The set was pleasantly mind-blowing, a hurricane blend of great songs from both of their albums as well as two covers that I personally think went toe-to-toe with the originals. Each of the band members got to show off their talents, and the atmosphere was like sitting in the middle of a twister, but also intimate and emotional. The Record Company never fails to disappoint. I’m giving this concert a 270 out of 10 points. If this band is in town again, I’m going to be up front.