“The highly-anticipated new release from Cincinatti’s own Afghan Whigs, every bit as musically and lyrically ferocious as 1998’s 1965.”
Don’t dare call it a comeback or a reunion because, to the legions of fans that have succeeded in raising the Afghan Whigs to canonical cult status, they never left. No, they have been lurking in the shadows, waiting with bated breath to reveal their seventh record, sixteen years in the making. From the pile-driving opener, “Parked Outside,” with its resemblance to the dirty, table-dancing grit of the Twilight Singers’ “Decatur St.,” to “Algiers” an entrancing, southwestern epic (complete with castanets and handclaps) with a pulsing drumbeat reminiscent of the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” consider your wavering faith in the industry restored – especially upon hearing an impassioned Greg Dulli bellow: “If time can incinerate what I was to you, allow me to illustrate how the hand becomes the fuse. If they’ve seen it all, show ’em something new.”
Though every bit as unapologetic and confessional, Do to the Beast differs from previous releases in that the majority of its innuendoes are cloaked in metaphor. Arguably a much more “mature” effort in the lyrical sense, the record is a continued tale of heartbreak amid ambitious arrangements ranging from R&B to heavy alternative, and even electronic-flavored funk – each a reflection on the Whigs’ innumerable influences. Down the rabbit hole we willingly descend, into a realm where the unknown lies in wait to consume us, and we love it. Lead the way, Dulli.
The Afghan Whigs
Do to the Beast
Cincinnati, OH
(Sub Pop)
Engineered by Kerry Brown and John Curley
Follow the Afghan Whigs on Twitter.