Gentlemen Rogues “A History So Repeating”

This is the second EP from Gentlemen Rogues who are from Austin, Texas. When the press release mentioned that, amongst others, the band had been listening to The Replacements’ ‘Tim’ and Superdrags’ ‘Head Trip In Every Key’ that was enough to encourage us that some of those great songs may have had an influence on the tracks on this record.

“Your Armageddon” is a sprightly pop punk opener with a good balance of grit and melody. Along with the likes of “Mocking Love” you can see them appealing to fans of the likes of The Gaslight Anthem or The Restorations but when those bands are at their most commercial.

The focus on melody gets even higher on “Empathy For The Devil” which is really pop with a good kick of rock. The same could be said of “Thin As Thieves” which at the outset disguises itself as punk rock but by the time you get to the “oohs” and the chorus then you know it’s really a great power pop song under the crunching guitars. A while ago, there were some great bands like The Crash Moderns who were making this kind of pop/rock sound.

What we really like about this EP/album is that it has a sound with a real sense of spirit and fun about it. There’s a feeling of a band that has grabbed with both hands, the chance to play the songs they love. There’s even a cheeky little cover of Erasures’ “A Little Respect” to show they aren’t taking themselves too seriously, like so many po faced pop punk bands tend to do. More bands should follow the lead of Gentlemen Rogues and have a little fun and enjoy the music they are making.