Wax Buildup: Let's Hear The Gentlemen, Please
written by Steve Reynolds

The Gentlemen were born out of the friendship between two other great Northeast bands: singer-guitarist Mike Gent has been part of The Figgs for almost fifteen years, while singer-guitarist Lucky Jackson, singer-bassist Ed Valauskas and drummer Pete Caldes have spent just as much time in The Gravel Pit. Gent explains how this unholy rock alliance was born. "I was on tour with the Pit [as their roadie] in early 1999. I opened some of the shows as solo act, and then we all played a few songs. A few months later we booked a show in Boston." But the new band didn't have any original material, and like many songwriters, Gent thrived under this self-imposed deadline. "I had to write ten songs on the spot because we didn't have any," he says, adding that he didn't expect anything other than some fun on stage from The Gentlemen. "I never planned to make records. It's been downhill ever since," he jokes.

The foursome booked some studio time in October of '99. To make sure they had enough songs to make a full album, Valauskas and Jackson started working on their own material for the first time. "We pretty much started writing because Mike encouraged us to," says Valauskas. "I had bits and pieces of things, mostly just chord progressions. Because we had a deadline of having studio time booked, Lucky and I both crammed to finish up a few things and get them on the record, which thankfully we did." The three songs the pair crammed to finish (two from Jackson, one from Valauskas) ended up being their lead vocal debuts, much to the bassists' surprise. "Neither of us thought that we would end up singing. I wrote 'Off With Its Head' for Mike to sing."

The Gentlemen recorded those three tunes and nine of Gent's songs in four days and mixed them all in one 22 hour session. The resulting album, Ladies and Gentlemen (Q Division/Hearbox), is by far one of the best debuts of the past ten years. From the opener "Sour Mash" (which includes the outstanding couplet "she looked like June/and she talked like Johnny Cash") to the scorching closer "Through With You," Ladies and Gentlemen provides a thrilling rush of adrenaline with each listen. The album sounds like a great band having a really hot night at a smoky, sweaty club. It's one song after another about relationships gone sour that musically mines what Valauskas appropriately calls "cock rock." When pressed to describe The Gentlemen sound, he offers up, "Put the Stones, Replacements, KISS and Graham Parker in a blender, and add in slightly less alcohol than the Replacements would have back in the day." Gent adds succinctly, "We are a really good sounding group." And he's right. Seeing a Gentlemen show, with Gent and Jackson's cranked-to-12 guitars, Valauskas's thundering bass and Caldes's shake-the-paint-from-the-ceiling drumming makes most other musicians crawl away in shame and fear. It's a sound that has many times reaffirmed my belief in the healing power of rock n' roll.

The Gentlemens' "day jobs," The Figgs and The Gravel Pit, took up much of their time over the past two years with various releases and tours, but the foursome found time to start work on their just released second album, Blondes Prefer The Gentlemen (TGRC/Sodapop Records). Recorded in two brief sessions last February and December, Blondes is, according to Valauskas, "More cock rock and cleaner sounding than Ladies. The songs are a little more thought out and road tested this time around, as well." What hasn't changed is the powerful sound that these four musicians create. Relationships take a backseat this time to lyrics about pricks in the music business. Gent's "Let Us Know," "The Boys All Went Home" and "Let's Be Gentlemen Please" feature guys getting screwed over by various weasels, and are set to some of the meatiest riffs since "Back in Black." The Valauskas-penned "It's Phony Rock n' Roll" calls out many of the hacks that dominate today's airwaves. "[The song] isn't so much about the music industry per se, as a particular kind of band that I don't particularly enjoy," he explains.

Jackson and Valauskas contribute their strongest songs yet on Blondes, and seem more comfortable as frontmen. "I don't know that I'll ever feel comfortable with the sound of my voice, but I feel like Lucky and I sang better this time around," says Valauskas. "I feel more confident as a writer, a little bit anyway. I am still learning and have a long way to go." What's evident is that this band doesn't have a long way to go to achieve greatness. Pick up either of their albums at www.thegentlemenrock.com and hear for yourself. And yes, the title of Blondes Prefer The Gentlemen is true: "It is kind of funny that three of us are dating blondes," laughs Valauskas. "It is also funny that Lucky's girlfriend just dyed her hair brown, in protest no doubt."

WEB SITES: The Gentlemen | The Figgs Records | Q Division Records | Sodapop Records

April 2002