Album Review: The Afghan Whigs - Do To The Beast

After nearly sixteen years of interesting detours like The Gutter Twins and The Twilight Singers, Greg Dulli decides to revive the band that put him on the map, The Afghan Whigs.

Back with the label that made them an interest to the majors back in the early 90's, Sub Pop, The Afghan Whigs release their brand new album Do To The Beast, April 15th.

Is the album just a re-hash of the previous grunge glories a la Soundgarden's cliche-ridden comeback album King Animal? Is it an over-slick effort that attempts to appeal to the masses a la Nine Inch Nails comeback Hesitation Marks? Turns out, neither.

Greg Dulli and company have always had a soul element to their rock and roll bouillabaisse, but after befriending Usher and his writing partner at a recent SXSW showcase, The Whigs are unafraid to create a little heat on most of the new tracks.

Dulli has always been smooth, but Do To The Beast almost showcases the frontman as a Robin Thicke for the grunge generation.

Tracks like "It Kills" and "Lost In The Woods," are charming but they are also dark, open wounds, which makes The Whigs pretty much unsellable to the R&B/Soul demographic.

Opener "Parked Outside" sets things off in a dark, loud matter with Dulli's gift for foreshadowing blazingly apparent.

When these guys rock hard, they do so in a widescreen, Tarantino-esque style that is virtually a complete 180 from their rough recordings with Sub Pop twenty years ago.

If you want to see how comfortable these guys are creating a musical "film," check out their actual music video for the track "Algiers." If you are familiar with "film noir" The Afghan Whigs will be something you will understand.

This is a super-strong effort from one of America's most interesting band of the 1990's. I give it 4 and 1/2 Empty Lighthouses out of 5. Highly recommended!

Official Website of The Afghan Whigs: http://theafghanwhigs.com