Who are the Gentlemen?

The Gentlemen formed back in 1999 when Mike Gent of The Figgs joined forces with 3/4 of Boston's The Gravel Pit. They released their debut CD, Ladies and Gentlemen...The Gentlemen on Hearbox/ Q Division Records in March of 2000. Recorded in just four days and mixed in one marathon 22-hour session by Scott Riebling (Letters to Cleo), the record sounds like a band playing live in a room because, well, it is.

Entertainment Weekly gave the record an (A-), stating,"One minute they're crushing hearts with the catchiest skinny-tie songs Graham Parker never wrote; the next they're stumbling around like Johnny Thunders fronting the Stones. But therein lies the genius: No tribute act, these guys just revel in the sounds they love---and make you love them, too."

Their follow-up effort, Blondes Prefer The Gentlemen, released on The Gentlemen's Recording Co./Sodapop Records, is much along the same lines as Ladies... except with slightly more care in the recording department. The record was made in six days or so over the course of a year by a varied cast of characters at the helm including Dave Minehan (x-Neighborhoods), Dan McLoughlin (Push Stars), Tom Polce (Senor Happy, Loveless) and of course Mr. Riebling. The record features 6 new gems by Gent as well as three songs apiece from Jackson and Valauskas. Also, there are guest appearances by Kay Hanley (x-Letters to Cleo) and Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright).

Their newest release, Brass City Band (released in February 2005 on The Gentlemen's Recording Co. and distributed by Q Division Records), is already garnering critical acclaim. Zeth Lundy of Popmatters.com writes, "They deliver everything you could ask for from a rock 'n' roll band: Jagger struts, cataclysmic guitar rumblings, a wickedly tight rhythm section, and inexhaustible wit....Following two records of raw, juiced-up rock (2000's Ladies and Gentlemen... and 2003's Blondes Prefer the Gentlemen), the just-released Brass City Band finds the band branching out in thrilling evolution: horns, keyboards, and a democratic collection of airtight songs from Gent, Jackson, and Valauskas help make it their best album yet."

[above: winning the wbcn rock'n' roll rumble, 2002]