posted by Patrick on October 14, 2008
When you run a music blog, everything you write about is supposed to be The Brightest New Thing. You can’t pick favorites. If I could though, I’d pick Gentleman Auction House and their new album “Alphabet Graveyard.” Like Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s, The House manages the neat trick of extracting clean, hook-filled, and inventive indie pop from a sprawling cast of seven members playing instruments from flute to trumpet to guitar. Oh, and there are three drummers, somehow. (I can just imagine the Three Bears discussion behind that decision: Four drummers was too many, but one was too few). It’s not the band’s size that sets them apart though; it’s the way they mix tempos, lyrics, and random sounds into a cohesive, distinctive but still poppy package. The two tracks below illustrate the band’s range. “Book of Matches” is driven by a looping guitar lick, while “A Good Son” burns slowly until the three-and-a-half minute mark, when it devolves into something entirely different. I have no idea how all these pieces fit together live, but I can’t wait to find out. More tracks on Myspace.
The Book of Matches
Download (right-click link & “save as”)
A Good Son
Download (right-click link & “save as”)
(11 votes)
Loading ...
August 15th, 2011 at 8:42 am
I searched a bunch of sites and this was the best.