Your Gracious Host

Your Gracious Host
(Sleepers Awaken 2010) & (1up 2Down 2012)
10/24/12

This is dream pop for young hearts in love! Accurate in craft and especially lush in production Your Gracious Host is Tom Curless. Hailing from Michigan he writes all the music and plays most instruments with the help of John Ross and Brian Leach. ...From Sleepers Awaken “Decision Tonight” opens, reminding of late 90’s James with jangling guitars and a punctuating bass, pretty…yeah, nice.. "sounds good,” you’re thinking but then a snare rolls in the drums and WOW… this guy is an amazing drummer! Crisp and well articulated Curless wields the skins masterfully, managing to pocket the rhythm section while also claiming a bit of the spotlight. Impressive.

As the record progresses you see an approach to songwriting fresh, heady and like the best pop, easy to hum. There is an element here which draws parallels to some of the more modern eras in pop music. “One in Ten” finds YGH vibing on a Modern English style UK pop with delicate harmonies and “brushstrokes in the air” as the lyrics paint. Almost every song could come from any of your favorite moments in a John Hughes film and that’s a really good thing in an era where music is un-cinematic and too easily forgotten. Curless has a gorgeous, velvety voice that sounds expressive without feeling forced or pretentious, in fact very natural, perhaps even supernatural when using falsetto on the final track.

YGH’s 2012 effort “1up 2Down” further stakes the claim that Sleepers Awaken made. It’s obvious this project has energy in it. The sound is equally beautiful in design with a slightly harder edge. The production is a bit more stripped down with all instruments being played by Curless this time and only one other contributor, Ellis Clark lending duties on “Have I been Lied To” which is a piano heavy transitional track that blends Rubber Soul era simplicity with a touch of Journey and maybe more progressive elements of Boston. Curless’ range is evident throughout as he stretches with this collection to include a slightly more weathered, almost aching melancholy that never gets too down. This music will heal the heartbroken and it’s a sure bet you’ll hear this on a soundtrack soon!

-Isaiah Frizzell / Bryan Farrish Promotion - Bryan Farrish Promo

Wow, Tom Curless (aka Your Gracious Host) keeps upping the ante with each successive release, and with "Sleepers Awaken" he's set a pretty high bar this time! The sessions for the record were recorded in Michigan and Chicago at three different studios throughout most of 2010. Enlisting the help of Brian Leach and John Ross (which reunites the most excellent late 90's/early 00's Autoliner of which Curless was a member), the results are eleven sparkling new songs that grace this brilliant (and best yet!) third outing led by this mid-western pop machine. From the opening electric guitars and drums which drive the relentless "Decision Tonight" to the closing fragile lilting acoustic guitars and harmonies of “If You Lead There”, the record paints on a very broad musical and lyrical canvas. Majestic layered vocals collide with strident, complex rhythmic arrangements, almost like CSN&Y singing back up for "Sound Affects"-era Jam. Hints of early 80’s post punk crop up along the way, bringing to mind classic pop guitar bands like XTC, The dBs, the Posies, Shoes and Teenage Fanclub. Ultimately however, Your Gracious Host finds a unique voice of its own. ....Can't say enough about this one! - Ray Gianchetti

Michigan bunch led by pop aficionado Tom Curless. On this, the band’s third record, they seem to do what they did on their first 2 (only better) That is create chiming, jangly pop songs with excellent playing and hooks a plenty. Usually in a Teenage Fanclub vein and well worth checking out. - Dagger

Tom Curless is back with his third disc in a little over two years as Your Gracious Host, serving up more of the indie-flavored power pop we got on the first two discs. The standouts this time around are the Posies-esque "Decision Tonight", the dreamy mid-tempo "Episode in Contrast", "Surrender Me", which has a Well Wishers/Spinning Jennies vibe, and the Teenage Fanclub-influenced "Reach the Shore". Let's not keep this one a "sleeper"! - Steve Ferra

Like spawn of ...Shoes, Choo-Choo Train, Material Issue, and Chicago’s underrated Bon Mots, Tom Curless and co.’s third LP actually prefers jaunty, lighter, acoustic-based breeze to spotlight his pleasant Emitt Rhodes/Beatles-bright lead singing and their CS&N angel harmonies. Curless writes well, too, like a young relation of uncles Beau Brummels, Cyrkle, Association, Monkees, Grass Roots, ‘70s Beach Boys, and the “I’m Alive”-era Hollies with just enough Midwestern spit to make his trio hit and stick instead of playing wimpy AM pop. - Jack Rabid