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Our Review

Gentleman Auction House (GAH) is an up-and-coming, St. Louis-based indie group that has been generating considerable buzz since its formation in 2005. Their holiday EP Christmas in Love consists of six tracks, five fun originals and a nicely rejuvenated Here Comes Santa Claus.

It is tough to peg this music, which is edgy pop, and the edge may push the group into raw alternative rock. Whatever you call it, the music is modern, eclectic, and addictive.

Lead singer and chief songwriter Eric Enger has a cool "bad boy" intonation that rocks the saccharine off holiday tunes. His On the Rooftop hooked me immediately; I was swinging in my seat and repeatedly replaying the track to catch the lyrics. Home for the Holidays (written by Enger with Steve Kozel) is the longest cut (over five minutes); its repetitive refrain has a mesmerizing quality. The album closes with Enger's well-crafted title track, Christmas in Love; here's hoping that we all escape the cold of loneliness this winter and throughout the year.

Too bad Christmas in Love is just an EP. Holiday collections need more creative offerings in the pop genre. GAH should shoot for the expanded version in 2010!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2009)

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From the liner notes:

All songs written by Eric Enger except "Home for the Holidays," "Don't Want Another Christmas (Like Last Christmas)" written by Eric Enger and Steve Kozel and "Here Comes Santa Claus" written by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman.

Produced by Eric Enger, Steve Kozel, and Santa Claus.


From the Website:

Eric Enger
(vocals, guitar, etc.)
Steve Kozel
(keys, vocals, trumpet, guitar)
Kiley Kozel
(keys, vocals, flute)
Eric Herbst
(bass)
Ryan Adams
(drums)
Stephen Tomko
(halfkit, percussion, etc.)

From the Label's Website (www.emergencyumbrella.com):

Gentleman Auction House doesn't subscribe to "less is more." Initially starting out as a seven-piece, the St. Louis-based band has packed in three EPs and one full-length in under three years. The band continues to hit the road, winning over audiences with its dual-drummer rhythms, ebullient choruses and instinctive pop hooks. Such big thinking has won the band press in the pages of Spin, led to a Daytrotter.com session, a WOXY.com lounge act (and a #50 spot on their "97 Best of '08"), and propelled the debut full-length, Alphabet Graveyard, to #31 on the CMJ Radio charts.

Led by singer and guitarist Eric Enger, the group first hit the stage in late 2005. Word quickly spread of the band's magnetic live shows, and the group's sound continued to evolve. Two years later, the quaint, melodic chamber-folk of their first EP had fused with a bolder sound that combined buoyant pop with rock's raw energy and modern R&B's use of heavy percussion and buzzing keyboards. GAH's first two releases of 2008 (on Emergency Umbrella Records), The Book of Matches EP and Alphabet Graveyard, proved that a group of white Midwestern 20-somethings could corral rhythm and soul into something palpable and powerful.

To cap off an already overstuffed 2008, Gentleman Auction House released the Christmas in Love EP, featuring five original songs and a sleighful of holiday merriment. The success of the self-produced disc emboldened the band (now trimmed down to a sextet) to record its next full-length itself, a process that will begin in the summer of 2009. Until then, Gentleman Auction House will continue to think big and move forward, touring the land and writing songs that match modesty with big pop dreams in the way that only a group of affable young folk from St. Louis can.

Gentleman Auction House

Christmas in Love

Artist link

Track List