Get Your POLL On, Baby: ILM Artist Poll #109 - The Afghan Whigs

very good album let down slightly by weird production. voted for fewer songs from it than i expected but i have always been more into the three records after it tbf

singles are all amazing tho

What were they aside from "Conjure Me"?

"turn on the water" and "miles iz ded"

("miles" wasn't released officially as a single but it does have a promo video)

How do people feel about Congregation?

the production on that hurts my ears - sounds like lots of guitar on it with open strings just ringing away, and it's all just way too high in the mix. feel like it's very of-its-time, loads of sonic youth-inspired bands flooding all the frequencies with guitar, makes me think of steelpole bathtub or someone. i'm sure there are plenty of less obscure examples of that aesthetic but they're not sprining to mind right now. swervedriver kind of did the same kind of thing with a load of guitar parts going off all over the place, but i think they're a good example of where that approach actually works really well. all the parts seem so focussed on their stuff, it's a really cool knot for your ears to untangle, but 'congregation' just feels like there's a whole exhausting layer of extraneous noise. the shift from that to 'gentlemen' is huge, they stripped it down and it's got so much more room to breathe. got some cool songs though!

"Algiers" is their most-streamed song on Spotify by a pretty fair margin. soundtrack placement?

― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Sunday, May 30, 2021 6:09 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

according to the youtube comments it was on an episode of ray donovan

“Turn on the Water” has a melodic fragment borrowed from “I’ll Be Around.”

congregation feels like their real debut album - you can hear their classic sound for the first time but it's a little rough & not as fully formed as the later albums, and the production is pretty bad yeah.

"miles iz ded", "i'm her slave" and "let me lie to you" are all very good

“Turn On the Water” is such a jam!!
Whigs rhythm section was unstoppable and way better than like 99% of their peers

I like Congregation but the cover image is definitely cringe. Lotsa good songs and I like the JCS cover. It shows a lot of promise.
Up in It sounds fairly conventional but Congregation solidifies the appeal of the Whigs sound. No other band I’m aware of would have made that album.

enjoyed this recent interview w/ Dulli where he mostly just lists off what he's been listening to, should be something new in there for just about everyone

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/greg-dulli-talks-solo-album-random-desire-and-its-influences-in-bv-interview/

Yeah,, I didn't know about a lot of that stuff.

he also has some pretty awesome spotify playlists, it must be said

https://open.spotify.com/user/1217927207?si=b4bbc65f3236480e

haven't listened to it for ages, stupidly, but reminded now the first Twilight Singers lp is so so good. prefer it to the two Whigs reunion albums actually.

twilight is one of his very best records, you speak the truth

Haven't even listened to that one yet. How much time until the ballot is due?

deadline was intended to be midnight on saturday but there've only been a few ballots so far so i'm certainly happy to extend it if anyone needs it

I will definitely vote whatever the deadline be

I will try to make that deadline but...

I’d appreciate an extension.
Has any attention been paid to how Dulli is a master cover-chooser?? The Whigs’ (Dulli’s??) choice of cover songs has been a defining aspect of my love for the band, beyond the songwriting and musicianship of the band

Always has the band’s strengths and the audience’s needs in mind and I swear I’ve lost my shit at more Whigs covers than any other band??

they're a rock band whose taste is part of their appeal and their ongoing project in a way i can't really compare to any others

by "band" there i think i kinda mean the whigs and the twilight singers and dulli solo all at the same time. but it's also down to the way rick mccollum plays guitar like he's a '70s r&b session dude with his distortion pedal cranked

mccollum is really such a fantastic player & it's a shame he wasn't able to stick around for the reunion albums, like those are still great without him but imagine what could have been.

I think it's neat that Dulli seems to only get good enough at instruments himself to convey his ideas, but then also surrounds himself with incredible talent to make up for it. It's a good approach!

Is Black Love the closest anyone gets to the paranoiac muddle of Exile on Main Street's production?

lol, possibly for many of the same reasons!

if you haven't been reading dulli interviews from the mid to late 00s...there's a lot of wild shit in there

Was he a big heroin guy? I know nothing about him.

coke, as the 1998 bootleg evidences

there are other subtle indications elsewhere lol

have sent out confirmations to those who've sent ballots so far

i'll extend the deadline until at least monday

This is impossible

Temptation comes not from hell
But from above

your kisses scourge me, hyssop in your perfume

This is impossible

yeah, I've got all my Dulli stuff by the stereo but everything's far too consistently great, how to choose

only thought so far is that 1965 will benefit from current heat wave

here to highlight this, one of the best on She Loves You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-uatQxzQQQ

Please Stay (Once You Go Away) is also sounding great on this listen; this album really holds up well.

This is too hard. I thought I had a good handle on them but there's too much I don't know! I'm basically going to be choosing from Gentlemen, Black Love, 1965 and the first Twilight Singers' record.

I feel like She Loves You is OK, but not quite up to the standards of Dulli's best covers for the most part

i really like she loves you

however.... had the whigs put out a covers full-length in the ‘90s........

around half of she loves you is really good and the other half is just ok

yeah i remember being unmoved by the choices on She Loves You, so much that i didn't buy it. I don't think I want to hear Dulli singing "Strange Fruit" tbh. Uptown Avondale/live covers are where it was at for me. I remember slowly realizing what song they were playing and losing my shit when they played "Creep" at a show I saw in Cleveland.

Not looking good for finalizing a ballot.

i believe in y'all

My brane hurts

i believe in y'all

What’s the submission date? Sorry if I’ve missed the answer to this already

Was supposed to be today, theoretically was extended to tomorrow