Losing Soft Control Over The Afghan Whigs New Album
Losing Soft Control Over The Afghan Whigs New Album
40 years. Four decades. That’s how long Cincinnati, Ohio’s own The Afghan Whigs have been making music. Not just any music, some of the best alternative rock music created during that time. While many bands shine bright early in their careers and fizzle out in their twilight years, somehow the Whigs are not only still in the game, they remain at or near the top of it. Their 10th studio album, Soft Control, releases this week and continues the astounding comeback run they began with 2014’s Do to the Beast.
The Afghan Whigs are one of the most unique bands out there. While decidedly categorized as alternative rock and rightly so, there’s nuance here that makes the band special and unique. What began as a more punk/grunge/DIY sound in 1988 has matured, developed, and changed over the course of ten records. Singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter Greg Dulli began to infuse his love of soul and R&B into the band’s music in the early ’90s, creating a sonic blueprint that set the band apart from most of their contemporaries. He then somehow imparted his admiration for noir film into the band’s sound, creating dramatic, cinematic soundscapes that evoked deep emotion in listeners, particularly among emotive GenX males. His time in the equally excellent Twilight Singers saw him develop an affinity for keyboards and piano, which he brought along to the second chapter of the band’s career. Soft Control represents the modern sound of the Afghan Whigs, and it’s a spectacular sound for sure.
In line with the previous albums of the modern era, Soft Control is around a tight 40 minutes/10 songs. The band has clearly settled on a particular length and style that works for them. The band has also become adept at packing so much drama into less than an hour.
Opening track Jungle Roux, with its echoey guitar and call-and-response chorus, echoes Greg’s time in New Orleans. It’s dirty, sexy, fun.
House of I is heavy and grungy, it’s main riff and chorus are loud and aggressive, but the song is punctuated with a “doo doo doo doo” gang vocal that grounds the band in it’s soul roots.
Duvateen is a Twilight Singers song through and through; its gently ringing piano serves as a canvas for Greg’s stunning vocals. A string section is hung over the back end of the song like droopy Christmas lights in a darkened bar, adding to the cinematic drama the band is known for.
My Lover harkens back to the band’s earlier sound, a grungier one, with Greg’s vocals accentuated in a gritty snarl. The tune is punctuated by an unexpected guitar solo straight off any Mudhoney record.
The band bounces back and forth between grittier, heavier, guitar-driven tracks and more melodic keyboard- and piano-based tracks. Its signature sound is tough to pin down beyond two elements: Greg Dulli’s voice and John Curley’s bass. It’s these two elements-the last remaining remnants of the original band that make the Afghan Whigs the Afghan Whigs. Greg’s voice, deep, rich, unique, deepened and scarred by cigarettes and whiskey, and John’s bass, like a sidewinder grooving in and around the song, adding a danceable funk to each song, create a sound that continues to enthrall fans 40 years on. It’s this creative partnership that has always elevated the band above its peers and captured the ears, hearts, and imaginations of a generation of music fans.
Soft Control builds to a crescendo like the best noir movie or pulp novel, a trick Dulli has become adept at throughout his career, telling deep, rich stories 4 minutes at a time, building to a moment of release and catharsis. He can do it in a song and across the breadth of an album. Here, the closing number, A Simulation, is dark, quiet, and haunting. Greg poetically laments a lost or unrequited love while the song builds from a quiet reflection to a burning conclusion. It’s Greg Dulli 101. Evoke an emotion, pull on a heart string, find a dark corner of the heart to set up shop in, and leave them wanting more.
Soft Control is the perfect way to celebrate 40 years of the Afghan Whigs. It’s familiar, but fresh. The essential components are all here. Greg, John, and an assembly of ridiculously talented support musicians delivering on Greg’s vision. A cinematic, dramatic record that feels much longer than its brief 37 minutes. 10 songs that evoke heartbreak, loss, love, lust, and grief. A soundtrack for after midnight on a Friday night. A perfect companion to a broken heart and an empty soul.
