JANUARY 1st 1999
"Gigolo Aunts, Fuzzy, and more" by Brett Milano, Boston in '99

Gigolo Aunts singer Dave Gibbs is currently pondering his options for New Year's Eve: he can either see his friends' bands in the Boston clubs or go to Hollywood and party with supermodels. Such is the double-life of this band, who remain a well-liked fixture on the local scene. But when they play Los Angeles, the Gigolo Aunts are in with the in-crowd.
The band's overdue album, Minor Chords & Major Themes, is now set for a mid-February release. But first, they've got some work to do. During January, they're playing a Tuesday-night residency at the Hollywood hot spot, the Martini Lounge. There will likely be famous guests on-stage and celebrities in the audience.
"For some reason we've been accepted by that crowd; I have no idea why," the ever-modest Gibbs said last week. "I just got two celebrity invites for New Year's Eve, which to me is ridiculous. Hollywood is fun, it's surreal; you just get caught up in it. The great thing about doing the Martini Lounge is that it's automatically packed. They have the goofy Hollywood velvet-rope scene happening. The best you can do is to look at it as a joke -- `We're here to meet some real celebrities and see how the world works for real rock stars.' Because that certainly isn't what we are."
If you catch the Gigolo Aunts in Hollywood, you'll likely notice a dreadlocked guy up front singing along with all the tunes. That would be Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz, who's been one of the band's biggest fans for years (The Aunts' album is the inaugural release for his own Universal-distributed label, E Pluribus Unum). The bands' friendship goes back to 1993, when the Aunts and the Crows released their major-label debuts at about the same time. "At the time he was flat broke, just like us," notes Gibbs. "He was a Big Star fanatic and heard about us because we'd done some Big Star covers. Adam's got a big mouth, so he made sure to tell everybody about us."
Duritz also brought them along to open some recent tour dates. And he sings backup on the Aunts' single "The Big Lie." And yes, he tends to learn all his favorite bands' songs. "He's one of those guys with a great memory and a genius IQ. That's his party trick, that he can remember so many words at once."
No surprise that Gibbs recently gave up his Boston apartment and is planning to live in LA full time. The rest of the band -- guitarist John Skibic, drummer Fred Etchingham, and bassist Steve Hurley -- may soon follow suit. Meanwhile, life goes on as usual: the Aunts still play local shows whenever possible, including a recent one at The Noise's anniversary party at T.T. the Bear's Place -- as the New Jersey Guitar Army, they played a half hour's worth of Television's "Marquee Moon." The choice, they say, was between that and L.L. Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out." And Gibbs maintains a day job at that musician's hotbed, Mystery Train Records on Newbury Street. "Our rent is paid by the band right now, but I'd rather be working than not -- especially since I get paid half in records. This way I can look forward to getting out and rehearsing at night." So at the moment the Gigolo Aunts are still local guys who've had a glimpse of the good life. But it's possible that the new album will put them there full time.



FEBRUARY 27th 1999
By Joe Joyce, This review originally appeared on Amplifier On-Line in March 1999

From the schoolboy visages of original members Dave Gibbs and Steve Hurley it’s hard to believe that the Gigolo Aunts have now been churning out their brand of pop rock smarts for going on twenty years. Maybe the youthful appearances are more signs of relief over the fact that their label woes with RCA are now finally over following five years of contentious legal wrangling. It was apparently the "great reviews, no sales" conundrum that followed the release of their Flippin’ Out album that set the wheels in motion for their ultimate split with the major label -- that, plus the band’s refusal to release the recorded follow-up because, simply, they (Gigolo Aunts, not the label) were unhappy with it.
Tonight the Aunts are in a visibly upbeat, appreciative mood, anxious to pay respect to a legion of loyal Boston fans with a homegrown party marking the recent release of their superb Minor Chords and Major Themes album. It’s also a bittersweet evening as Gibbs (lead vocals/guitar), Hurley (bass/vocals) and fellow bandmates Fred Eltringham (drums) and Jon Skibic (lead guitar/vocals) prepare to shift their operation from the cozy confines of Boston to Los Angeles, home base for their new label, Adam Duritz’s E Pluribus Unum. Having discovered a mutual admiration for Alex Chilton and Big Star while their respective bands were supporting a Cranberries tour, Gibbs and Hurley became friends with the Counting Crows’ frontman while both outfits were struggling to make ends meet. Duritz made it his mission to sign the Aunts to his fledgling label as soon as the RCA machinations played themselves out -- so now the Aunts will play their considerable skills from the west coast and become, as stated by Duritz during his introduction of the band tonight, "my roommates."
Though a magnificent album, a preponderance of tunes on Minor Chords and Major Themes never really get past 5 on the 1 to 10 aggression scale. With the band sticking pretty much exclusively to these new songs the resulting performance was perhaps a bit less of a raucous affair than Aunts fans may have come to expect. The first single "The Big Lie" has an incessantly catchy chorus and, as played tonight, would seem to be ready made for the airwaves. Single aside, each song offered tonight has a "stand alone" quality that demonstrates the overall strength of the album. The rallying cry of "C’mon, C’mon", a gritty workout of "Super Ultra Wicked Mega Love", and the pleading "Fade Away" (with Skibic contributing gorgeously liquid wah-wah leads) represents the more highly energized side of Minor Chords and Major Themes. Selections from the softer side of the scale were no less stunning, in particular "Everyone Can Fly" (a dreaming, hopeful, and ultimately positive message dedicated by Gibbs to his parents -- in attendance tonight), an anguished-yet-beautiful "Everything Is Wrong", and the fragile "For A Moment". Gibbs was in fine voice throughout with Hurley consistently contributing solid harmony while he and Eltringham kept the low end pulsing.
Based on his work on "Fade Away", one hoped for a more expanded role from Skibic -- and was generously rewarded with the first encore "Cope", one of the few older songs played tonight. Freed to let loose, Skibic burned ferociously as Gibbs, Hurley, and Eltringham all succeeded in bumping up the intensity level a notch or two. To the crowd’s delight, Duritz joined the band for their final encore, contributing some undeniable star power to a delightfully ragged romp through the Byrds "So You Wanna Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star". Following a round of sincere "thank yous" the Aunts were off seeking warmer climates and an elusive, much-deserved breakthrough. It was a night of well crafted, impeccably played, melodically charged pure pop and rock that had fans leaving on a high note sensing, perhaps, that Gibbs and company may finally get their due.



JULY 15th 1999
"Live At Rancho Relaxo - Toronto - July 15, 1999" By Claudio Sossi

Currently on tour opening for label-mates Counting Crows, The Gigolo Aunts gave Torontonians an unexpected treat last night - a last minute headlining club date to remember.
Thriving on the break from the structured approach of being an opening act, Gigolo Aunts seemed especially psyched for this gig. Although Rancho Relaxo may not be the best of rooms (one of those long and very narrow places with the band at a far end), the band nevertheless rose to the occasion. The audience were treated to the band's trademark pop-rock and, thanks to the band's desire to truly entertain, probably felt as if they had spent the evening with dear friends by the time closing time came around.
Most of what Gigolo Aunts had to say came from Minor Chords And Major Themes, their first full-length release in almost five years. The new single, Everyone Can Fly, was given a passionate treatment, as was the heart-felt Rest Assured. The Big Lie, the best track on Minor Chords…, was delivered with all the urgency that the band managed to convey in the studio (drummer Fred Eltringham certainly made an impression here). A new track, To Whoever (available on the Everyone Can Fly EP), came across more as an anthem than anything, with David Gibbs providing the details of the song's comic origin (the complete line is "To whoever called my number and hung up - I hate you!").
Adam Duritz and Dan Vickrey made appearances as well, with Duritz delivering the vocal on Serious Drugs and sharing them with Gibbs on a blazing So You Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star. Dan Vickrey used Super Ultra Wicked Mega Love to join in and rock out. Duritz and Gigolo Aunts also treated the audience to some lighthearted attempts at U2's I Will Follow and Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
At Duritz's request, Gigolo Aunts exploded into an amazing version of Cheap Trick's Surrender, with Gibbs holding his own on the song's challenging vocal. The band also launched in Neil Young's Fuckin' Up, proving that they can indeed "rawk" when they have to. Another cover song highlight was Steve Miller's The Joker, where Gibbs took the vocal after no audience members took him up on his offer to step up to the microphone.
The atmosphere was indeed festive, and this all came from Gigolo Aunts themselves and their enthusiasm. Their audience rapport was genuine and fun. Indeed Gigolo Aunts, especially Gibbs, came to have a good time and to show their audience a good time.
It's a pleasure being a Gigolo Aunts fan.



OCTOBER 11-12th 1999
"GIGOLO AUNTS: London King's Cross - Water Rats, Tuesday 12 October 1999" By Tim Perry

It must be something that they put in the Samuel Adams ale to make them be this good, but once again London is graced by visitors from Boston who seem to just knock out the big tunes effortlessly.
Well, that's not strictly the case tonight because lead Gigolo Aunt, Dave Gibbs, is visibly suffering from the flu and it's probably to protect his voice that they don't take the stage until 10.30pm. But once they arrive and launch into 'C'mon C'mon', from their new 'Minor Chords And Major Themes ' album, it's like being back in the good old days of '94 when they were household names (well at least in every home in America that had MTV). And indeed we actually do go back to '94 next for the hit single 'Where I Find My Heaven', before the Aunts romp through most of the new album.
'The Big Lie' is superb powerpop with gripping bass progressions and, played much more forcefully than on the record, is perhaps the highlight of the night. The quieter, introspective janglers like 'Half A Chance' and 'Everyone Can Fly' don't work so well in the sweatbox that is the Water Rats, and you begin to wonder if the Housemartins might have been an influence on this quartet. However, 'Rest Assured' blows the cobwebs away and even though it's technically past curfew they're hauled back on stage by a howling mob to do sweet little covers of The Smiths' 'Ask' and 'Serious Drugs' by the BMX Bandits. It's good to have them back.

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