THE WHIGS- In The Dark Review

THE WHIGS

In The Dark

ATO

 

The Whigs have been on a slow, steady climb towards national stardom for four years now, ever since Rolling Stone named the Athens-based band one of “10 Artists To Watch” in the wake of their independently released 2005 debut, Give ‘Em All A Big Fat Lip. Within a year they had been signed to Dave Matthews’ ATO label, and by 2008’s Mission Control the band had become more confident in their blend of classic garage rock and more modern alt-rock influences.

 

After replacing original bassist Hank Sullivant (who joined MGMT) with Tim Deaux, the band embarked on a series of memorable late night talk show performances and high-profile tours. Returning home a much tighter trio, the group began writing and recording their third album in Athens with producer Ben Allen (Animal Collective). The result, In The Dark, represents another big step forward in The Whigs’ artistic evolution.

 

The first difference you’ll notice is an increased focus on the rhythm section of Deaux and Julian Dorio. According to frontman Parker Gispert, nine of these 11 songs began as drum and bass grooves, with Gispert’s guitar and vocal melodies woven in around them. The result is a tighter, more propulsive sound, with the opening “Hundred/Million” rollicking along for 54 seconds before the first guitar riff comes crashing in like a tidal wave and takes the track to a whole ‘nother level. When the guitar stands front and center on a song like “Kill Me Carolyne,” it recalls the Replacements and R.E.M., establishing The Whigs as heirs to that college-rock throne.

 

In The Dark is not a perfect album, but it is a very good one, suggesting the band may soon be headlining the same big venues where they supported Kings of Leon and Drive-By Truckers not too long ago. –BRET LOVE

(originally appeared in Georgia Music Magazine)

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS- The Big To-Do Review

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS

The Big To-Do

ATO

Twelve years after the release of their debut album and nine years after the conceptual genius of Southern Rock Opera established them as the 21^st century’s Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Drive-By Truckers are more prolific than ever. In the last two years they’ve released a studio album, a live album and a B-sides compilation, collaborated with Booker T Jones and Neil Young on the Grammy-winning Potato Hole, and recorded frontman Patterson Hood’s solo album, Murdering Oscar.

 

With so much recorded output, the band’s trademark Southern-style storytelling and 3-guitar attack has long since been established as a bona fide brand. So the only question at this point is whether or not you’re buying into their twangy country-rock sound. For fans, The Big To-Do will likely come across as the band’s most rocking album since Southern Rock Opera.

 

Hard-driving songs such as the opening “Daddy Learned To Fly” and “The Fourth Night of My Drinking” are classic DBT, but the stripped-down grooves of the slyly humorous “Drag The Lake Charlie” and the off-kilter “The Wig He Made Her Wear” are as warped and colorful as the distinctively Southern stories they tell. Bassist Shonna Tucker continues to cut her compositional teeth, contributing two of the album’s 13 tracks. The piano-driven balladry of her “You Got Another” borders on breathtaking, while Jay Gonzalez’s organs and John Neff’s haunting pedal steel give the closing “Eyes Like Glue” a high lonesome appeal.

 

The increased contributions of the other members not only takes some of the pressure off Hood and Mike Cooley’s shoulders, it allows the band’s sound to expand in an organic way. Ten albums into their career, the Drive-By Truckers remain one of rock’s most consistent bands, and The Big To-Do is another strong feather in their creative cap. –BRET LOVE

(originally appeared in Georgia Music Magazine)

DRIVE BY TRUCKERS- The Fine Print

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS

The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities & Rarities 2003-2008

New West

 

Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood has been exceptionally busy of late. After releasing five classic albums (from 1999’s Pizza Deliverance to 2006’s A Blessing and A Curse) of Southern-rock brilliance with his band, he somehow found time to produce albums by Bettye LaVette and former DBT guitarist Jason Isbell, provide backup for the legendary Booker T. Jones, record his second solo album and reunite with the Truckers for 2008’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark.

 

With so much recorded output over the last few years, you might think you’d already heard the best music Hood and Co. had to offer. And, well, you’d be right. But as The Fine Print’s dozen tracks prove, even the Drive-By Truckers’ detritus is better than most bands’ best.

 

Comprised of four covers, alternate versions of two previously released tunes, and six songs that simply didn’t work on the albums for which they were originally intended, The Fine Print can’t match other DBT albums in consistency. But with the exception of the crazy Christmas ditty “Mrs. Claus’ Kimono,” most of the tracks have no issue with quality. The re-recording of “Uncle Frank” (which first appeared on their 1998 debut) improves on the original, while the foreboding air of “The Great Car Dealer War” proves that The Dirty South’s loss is The Fine Print’s gain. Speaking of loss, “TVA” and “When the Well Runs Dry” remind you how much Isbell brought to the band, while Mike Cooley’s “Little Pony & the Great Big Horse” insists the band still has its fair share of kick-ass songwriters.

 

So what if The Fine Print isn’t yet another instant DBT classic? It’s miles better than most bands’ oddities, and should keep fans happy until the Truckers’ eighth proper LP is released in March. –BRET LOVE

(originally appeared in Georgia Music Magazine)