Charlatans at the Garden Gate

Charlatans at the Garden Gate is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Tristen Gaspadarek. It was released on February 15, 2011, by American Myth Recordings.^[7]

Charlatans at the Garden Gate
Studio album by Tristen Gaspadarek
Released	February 15, 2011 (2011-02-15)
Length	35:39
Label	American Myth
Producer	Tristen Gaspadarek Jeremy Ferguson
Tristen Gaspadarek chronology
Charlatans at the Garden Gate (2011) C A V E S (2013)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	B+[2]
God Is in the TV	[3]
Paste	8.3/10[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Slant Magazine	[6]

Promotion

Tristen performed a few songs from the album for Rolling Stone on June 13, 2011.^[8]

Singles

Tristen released the first music video to "Matchstick Murder" on January 4, 2011.^[9]

The second single "Baby Drugs" was released on March 10, 2011.^[10] The music video was directed by Justin Mitchell.^[11]

Critical reception

Charlatans at the Garden Gate was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81 based on 4 reviews.^[1]

In a review for Paste, critic reviewer China Reevers said: "Charlatans is an exploration of love and relationships, delving deeply into private conversations, while keeping the atmosphere light with tambourines, a little bit of rock, a touch of twang and a splash of pop. Her music remains light with playful rhythms, but she keeps her songs controlled as if they were on a string."^[4] Christian Williams of The A.V. Club, described Charlatans at the Garden Gate as a "confident, poignant folk-pop debut that never wants for hooks, and manages to undercut its sing-songiness at every turn with unflinching lyrics and mature songwriting."^[2] At Rolling Stone, Will Hermes explained that Tristen's debut is "full of such moments: catchy refrains with multiple meanings, ear-tugging melodies with hidden hooks. She flaunts a philosophy major's palette amidst echoes of vintage rockabilly and girl group pop."^[5]

Accolades

Publications' year-end list appearances for Charlatans at the Garden Gate

Critic/Publication	List	Rank	Ref
American Songwriter	American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2011	44	[12]

Track listing

Charlatans at the Garden Gate track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Eager for Your Love"	Tristen Gaspadarek	3:45
2.	"Matchstick Murder"	Gaspadarek	3:10
3.	"Doomsday"	Gaspadarek	3:33
4.	"Avalanche"	Gaspadarek	3:38
5.	"Battle of the Gods"	Gaspadarek	3:20
6.	"Baby Drugs"	Gaspadarek Larissa Maestro Caitlin Rose	2:34
7.	"Heart and Hope to Die"	Gaspadarek	3:22
8.	"Wicked Heart"	Gaspadarek Buddy Hughen	2:37
9.	"Tadpole"	Gaspadarek Rose	3:36
10.	"Special Kind of Fear"	Gaspadarek	2:20
11.	"Save Raina"	Gaspadarek	3:44

Personnel

Musicians Tristen Gaspadarek – guitar, piano, vocals Jordan Caress − bass, vocals Caitlin Rose – vocals Chris Scruggs – bass, guitar, drums Jeff Irwin – bass Matt Moody – bass Rollum Haas – drums Matt Hearn – drums Buddy Hughen – guitar, piano Richie Lister – piano Dave Paulson – piano Larissa Maestro – cello, vocals Ben Martin – drums Jeremy Ferguson – percussion

Production Tristen Gaspadarek – producer Jeremy Ferguson – producer Jason Lader – mixing Steve Fallone – mastering