The Gentleman Callers finally released their long-awaited debut CD a couple of months ago on Springfield, Missouri’s Wee Rock Records, and it’s an absolute thriller from start to finish! Those of us in the St. Louis area are already well familiar with what these guys are all about, but thanks to this great release, some of the rest of the rock’n'roll world is finally getting hip to their garage prowess as well. Don’t Say What it Is has garnered some great critical acclaim all over the planet, and it’s easy to understand why… it’s simply a great collection of songs that exemplify exactly what The Gentleman Callers are, and that is one of the premier rock’n'roll bands of this decade. Think The Pretty Things or The Yardbirds meet The Greenhornes and you’ve got a pretty good lead on what these twenty-somethings are all about. Danceable, soulful, mid-’60s R&B with plenty of groove and passion. All of the instrumentation (including the snotty, attitude-laden vocals) sound great. The fuzz is there, the Farfisa’s in full effect, and the mix is perfect. It’s got the good warmth of a fine analog recording without sounding “lo-fi” and it’s produced just right without coming off as slick. And quite honestly, there’s not a dud on this disc. And I was happy to see they included a track from their live performance on my radio show (“If You Don’t Want Me to Love You Again”) from October of 2004. A really nice job on a simply essential CD. Can’t wait for their next!

Show tonight! That’s right, for those of you in the St. Louis area, you can catch The Gentleman Callers live tonight (Saturday Dec. 10th) at Lemmons on S. Gravois in South St. Louis. This will be the band’s second show with their new man on keys, Seth Porter (from all reports of their show last week at the Creepy Crawl, “they’ve never sounded better” —Bill Streeter, Lo-Fi Saint Louis). Also appearing will be The Jet Set from Milwaukee and also local garage/rockabilly phenoms The Vultures. I’ll be there, how ’bout you?

Please enjoy these MP3s from Don’t Say What it Is:

The Gentleman Callers – I’ve Got Mine (MP3)
The Gentleman Callers – Hey Little Girl (MP3)
The Gentleman Callers – If You Want Me to Love You Again [Live on KDHX] (MP3)