Gentleman Auction House: Book of Matches

In simplest terms, Gentleman Auction House could be described as Okkervil River and Arcade Fire rolled into one kooky, Southern gothic amalgamation. But the St. Louis-based seven-piece (including two drummers) is so much more than that. Coupling male-female vocals with intense percussion and layers of chamber pop and folk, Gentleman Auction House has created a sound unlike any other band at the moment.

With their debut full-length Alphabet Graveyard set to be released in mid-August, Book of Matches could be perceived as simply an appetizer to temper the stomachs of their die-hards. The band themselves might have even approached it that way. But the truth is much more enticing. There are no shortcuts here. The songwriting is crisp and emphatic, the vocals sometimes affected but always passionate, and the melodies, despite being buried in a vortex of sound from trumpets to xylophones to flutes, twinkle like pop diamonds.

Those male-female vocals, ranging from whispers to banshee yells, are key to opening and title track “Book of Matches”. More importantly than that, however, is that beneath the hum of innumerable sounds lays a classic pop melody. When it worms its way into your head and stays, you’ll find yourself compelled to sing along.

Mid-EP tracks “Our Angry Town Stamps Them Out” and “I’ve Seen Trouble in This Sunken Land” are the best seven minutes. Paired back to back, the songs highlight Gentleman Auction House’s flexibility in crafting such diverse soundscapes and lyrical subjects. “Our Angry Town Stamps Them Out” is an alternate version of “Our Angry Town Runs Them Out”, from their debut EP The Rules Were Handed Down. This new version is more frenzied, fierce and immediately enjoyable than the original. Its ending swells to bombastic heights worthy of Tom Waits’ more outlandish moments.

“I’ve Seen Trouble in This Foreign Land”, on the contrary, coils slowly and menacingly like a rattlesnake ready to strike. No, really: “I’ve seen trouble in this sunken land / No clouds can cover what we’ve got planned / No changing course and no turning back / We come to kill a man”. Those lyrics are eerily reminiscent of Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. Unlike O’Conner’s story, however, this is no sanctimonious narrative, just the frankest of vicious intentions.

After this, the aptly titled “Parting Shot” becomes almost a therapeutic massage, kneading out the intensity of previous songs with waves of instrumentation and vocal harmonies at once both indulgent and relaxing. Erik Enger’s voice cracks open the melody: “When you find me I’ll be wrapped in a cloud.” And by the end of the song, this is exactly how you’ll feel.

Hardly an appetizer, Book of Matches is chock full of enthralling harmonies and delivers near-infinite depth of sound. Its lyrics are interesting to analyze, and yet also fun to belt out in the privacy of your home. And that is quite a line to balance, indeed. Most bands stand staunchly on one particular side. Gentleman Auction House isn’t most bands. And Book of Matches isn’t an ordinary EP. It is, quite simply, stunning.