Company of Thieves almost sealed their fate in a casket marked “another literary band” when they quoted Oscar Wilde’s The Duchess of Padua in their 2009 single.

Fortunately, Wilde is not to Company of Thieves as Chuck Palahniuk is to Panic! At The Disco, and one quote is as far as the band takes the Victorian author in their songwriting. Not only do the proclaimed ‘thieves refrain from stealing direct quotes but they avoid ripping off scenes from their favorite books like the quintessential literary band The Decemberists.

Instead, Company of Thieves is literate without being literary, a trait that will prove both genuine and endearing at this Friday’s show with the Hold Steady at Otto’s, 118 E. Lincoln Highway.

“Because of that one song, people think that you can call it a literary band and it’s pretty funny” said guitarist Marc Walloch. “It’s become this big thing where it’s like, ‘Why are you guys so obsessed with Oscar Wilde?’ but that’s one of the many writers that [vocalist Genevieve Schatz] likes and it’s just something that’s always been interesting to her. It’s so well-played from something that has been said so long ago that’s so relatable to the present day.”

“We are all our own devil, and we make this world our hell,” belts Schatz in allusion on the single. Over Walloch’s driving distorted rhythm guitar, her centralized voice is that of a folksy Patti Smith.

Company of Thieves’ undeniable catchiness has caused the band to receive a fair amount of commercial attention, making for a somewhat ironic Dove Soap commercial featuring the band with a Dorian Grey-esque obsession with inevitable aging and death.

However, Walloch, who believes the band is influenced as much by Radiohead as their peers in the Chicago music scene, said his goal is to keep experimenting as their sophomore album, Running From a Gamble, approaches.

“I think the number one thing as is not allowing any set rules or boundaries that are always in song writing,” said Walloch. “Basically our plan was, ‘let’s just keep doing this, let’s not let anything disturb or interrupt what we’re trying to learn about ourselves and our writing.'”