Ah, fellow readers. We here in the good old U.S. of A. are celebrating a tremendous olympic victory last night, over bitter hockey rival and home ice favorites, Canada. Especially here in Buffalo, the excitement leading up to the game and carrying over to today's celebrations (even if the game didn't win us anything) has been uplifting and just what this writer needed after all of these dreary winter days.
In honor of the Americans' passionate victory, we celebrate one of the most passionate (and yet, vastly underrated) bands in our country's recent history. They didn't last long, but their canon is obsessed over by devotees.
The Afghan Whigs came storming out of Cincinatti, OH on the SubPop label in the late 1980s, and released their swan song, 1965, a mere 10 years later. In that time, they evolved from a bunch of guys making garage band noise, to a band that could write neo-soul and funk with the best of them. Along the way, they became famous for their live shows, where they were known to cover everything from Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious" to John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" (yeah, that goes in the "must be heard to be believed" column).
Their driving force, front man Greg Dulli, has always been obsessed with three things: good love gone bad, bad love gone worse, drugs, and debaucherous sex. Not a bad collection of topics, huh? (Let's keep in mind that Dulli included a track on 1965 called "Sweet Son of a Bitch" - it was basically the sound of that night's conquest moaning in pleasure...)
I think that their entire album collection is vital (there are only 6 full length LPs if their greatest hits collection isn't counted... and let's not for these purposes) but their last 4 records are where the gems lie.
1991's Congregation ushered in a new dawn for the band - still a hard edge, but more polished. The album's cornerstones are clearly "Turn on the Water" and "Miles iz Dead". Each song is rambling, sounding like each could careen out of control at any moment. Here's a great version of "Turn on the Water" with the band moving seamlessly from a Rolling Stones classic into the tune:
The Afghan Whigs - "Gimmie Shelter -> Turn on the Water" - Live at the Gino Theater, Sweden, 1996
After the breakthrough of Congregation, fans wondered what Dulli and company would do for an encore. How about put out the finest album of the 1990s? Gentlemen stands as a towering achievement of 1990s rock. Although overshadowed by other behemoth rock releases from 1993 (such as Pearl Jam's Vs., Nirvana's In Utero, and Dinosaur Jr's Where You Been), Gentlemen may have more legs - it sounds more fresh today than any of those three releases. The band powers through 11 tracks and each one is classic. None may be as classic as "Be Sweet", whose opening stanzas perfectly distill Dulli's worldview:
"Ladies let me tell you about myself :
I got a dick for a brain and my brain is gonna sell my ass to you.
Now I'm OK but in time I find I'm stuck
'Cause she wants love, and I still wanna fuck"
Doesn't get much more beautifully lecherous than that. Here's my favorites (courtesy of Lala.com) :
"Be Sweet"
"Gentlemen"
"What Jail Is Like"
"Fountain and Fairfax"
It took the band 3 years to follow up that masterpiece, and did so in magnificent fashion. Black Love turned out to be a devastating song cycle that traces a crime gone bad paralleled with love gone sour. The tone is definitely film noir - dark, brooding, violent, mysterious. The tempos are quicker, the guitars hit harder, and Dulli shreds his voice throughout the course of the record. The menacing Roy Orbison growl that opens "Blame, Etc." introduces a strutting funk-soul guitar line that churns for the song's 4 minute duration. Redemption is still on the menu, though, as the album ends with "Faded", as sweeping an epic as Dulli has ever written.
Check out a couple of the songs in live versions from the Live at Howlin' Wolf EP (including their famous "Superstition" intro to "Going to Town") with the album version of "Faded", again, courtesy of Lala.com :
"Superstition/Going to Town" from Live at Howlin' Wolf
"Blame, Etc." from Live at Howlin' Wolf
"Faded" from Black Love
1998 would bring the Afghan Whig's swansong, 1965. Some find this record to be overreaching and a little too neo-soul for some tastes, but for me, it's a beautiful reminder of what the band was capable of. The title was carefully chosen, as each of the tracks seems to nod to that year's prevailing soul and R 'n B idioms. The album hits its stride immediately, with the classic "Somethin' Hot" (which opens with the striking of a match and lighting of a cigarette, along with some suggestive whispering from Dulli). Only Dulli could write these lines (and not make them sound the least bit sleazy):
"Cocktails for two down lover's lane
I want you so bad, after tonight, I'll never walk the same, and you're to blame"
and
"Baby you don't know, just how I lie awake
And dream a while about your smile and the way you make your ass shake"
we're not beating around the bush this time (so to speak).
"66" may have a bit too liberal use of drum machine for my taste, but once the real drums kick in along with a thumping baseline, it takes off into dance-pop homage from there. Today's hit makers couldn't fashion lines like these:
"So tell me baby, can you shake it
If I can move it with you will you let me take it?
I'll be down on my knees screamin', 'take me, take me, take me, I'm yours'"
and the refrain:
"Come on, come on, come on little rabbit,
Show me where you got it, 'cause you know I gotta have it"
No track showcases the pinnacle of latter-day funk that the Afghan Whigs aspired to more than "John the Baptist", where the band seemed to go back in time to borrow the Stax Horns to round out their sound. I just don't think that Stax Records ever used a dirty guitar line like the one in this song.
Check these out:
"Somethin' Hot" (courtesy of Lala.com)
"66" (courtesy of Lala.com)
"John the Baptist" (courtesy of my music collection)
Discussing the Afghan Whigs' full length LPs ignores the amazing work they did through the years on EPs. The Uptown Avondale EP, What Jail is Like EP, and promo-only Bonnie & Clyde EP are chock-full of gems - their covers of "My World Is Empty/I Hear a Symphony" from What Jail is Like, "Band of Gold" from Uptown Avondale, and "If I Only Had A Brain" from Bonnie & Clyde are all genius. Other EPs have covers of "Moon River", TLCs "Creep", and Hole's "Miss World".
"My World Is Empty/I Hear a Symphony" from What Jail is Like EP
The Afghan Whigs deserve your attention - whether you're in the mood for some hard-edged 90s rock, funk/soul revivalist gems, or sleazy, debaucherous, sex-filled vignettes, Greg Dulli's your man. Start with the above links, then search out all of their records.
Until next time, grab a glass of red wine, turn down the lights, find yourself a partner to make your own recording of "Sweet Son of a Bitch", and enjoy.
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