Gentleman Auction House - The Book of Matches
Tracklist
- The Book of Matches
- ABCDEFGraveyard
- Our Angry Town Stamps Them Out
- I've Seen Trouble In This Sunken Land (demo)
- A Parting Shot
Audio
- The Book of Matches [mp3]
- Release Date:
- May 06, 2008
When Gentleman Auction House released its debut EP The Rules Were Handed Down, comparisons were inevitable. In 2006, any band with more than five co-ed members, at least one keyboard, and loads of percussion was sure to be compared to any number of critically adored Canadian collectives. But on The Book of Matches, the companion EP to the band's first full-length release, Alphabet Graveyard, it becomes immediately clear that as a songwriter, Eric Enger has no intention of following any rules handed down by the indie-rock establishment, or for his band to take up the mantle of the next poster-children for derivative indie-collectivism. Matches manages to retain the emotive melodies and impeccably tasteful arrangements that have always been the most endearing components in the Gentleman Auction House sound, but marriages of everything from big rock drums and lurching organs to start-stop rhythms and jangly Motown guitar flourishes underpin the diversity of the band's new direction . Matches navigates these uncharted waters and manages a logical progression to Alphabet Graveyard, a very new place where solemn folk ballads, epic mood pieces and infectiously danceable pop very naturally find themselves on common ground.


