album // Up In It
Released on the seminal, but by then dissolving,
Seattle-based Sub Pop in 1990, this was the first Afghan
Whigs album proper - their 'real' first, Big Top Halloween,
was released in a limited edition of 2000 in 1988, and three tracks
from that debut are included here. Sub Pop's quest to sign the Whigs
caused not inconsiderable consternation among the likes of Mudhoney,
arguably Sub Pop's second most famous band, prompting their leader
Mark Arm to start shopping the band around majors - Sub Pop
were struggling to pay Mudhoney's royalties, yet they were throwing
money at the Whigs to get them to sign - a classic indie faux pas
and one that Sub Pop certainly made more than once. In the end,
the Whigs signed with Pavitt and Poneman, while Mudhoney
defected to Reprise, just after Nirvana - Sub Pop's most
famous band - had signed with Geffen on Sonic Youth's advice.
With the exception of the three tracks from Big
Top Halloween and the album's final track, Up In It was
produced by Jack Endino, unintentionally Sub Pop's 'in house'
producer in much the same way as Steve Albini / Butch
Vig at Touch & Go, Martin Hannett with Factory
or even Flood / Gareth Jones / Paul 'PK' Kendall
at Mute, only considerably more prolific - Endino recorded
75 singles, EPs and albums for Sub Pop between 1987 and 1989. Among
these was Nirvana's debut Bleach, but there is little point
of reference between Up In It's broad-brush rock appeal and
Bleach's raw tones. Endino pulls off a sequence of recordings
that is simultaneously highly polished and frighteningly urgent.
It's generations removed from their later work, and light years
away from vocalist, guitarist and perfect front man Greg Dulli's
latest band, The Twilight Singers. The Whigs here comprised
John Curley (bass), Rick McCollum (guitar), Greg Dulli
(guitar, vocals) and Steve Earle (drums).
Up In It kicks off with the frenetic 'Retarded',
which is perhaps the closest this album gets to the grunge sound
Sub Pop and Endino were famed for. Dischordant guitars - similar
to a Thurston Moore / Lee Ranaldo jam - and gritty
vocals ensure that the album steps out on the right foot. Wah-wah
guitar (and some additional guitar work that sounds dubiously like
'Eye Of The Tiger') ushers in 'White Trash Party', a swirling hurricane
of howled vocals, grinding guitars and urgent cymbal-playing. 'Hated'
on the other hand is an emotional melodic song that prove the Whigs
were capable of producing sentimental music at this early stage,
even if the duelling guitars and turgid bass owe more at this stage
to metal than soul.
'Southpaw' has an excellent groove and very muscular
drumming, approximately a heavy dirge that manages to blend 'Sympathy
For The Devil', Pixies and even the shrill vocal of Axl
Rose, to surprisingly good effect. At under two minutes, 'Amphetamines
And Coffee' sees the band tearing into a metal-influenced riff with
some fretwork that J Mascis would appreciate and stop-start
drumming that would be captivating to watch. 'Hey Cuz' has a really
clever sound, with Blixa Bargeld-esque spindly guitar cycles
and a snare-dominated backbone, all of which breaks down into a
very free and unstructured jam during which Dulli frantically crams
words and vocal sounds into seemingly the smallest of spaces. With
a great, melodic bass line and descending guitar melody (and tightly-controlled
feedback), 'You My Flower' is another impassioned, powerfully-sensual
rock song, finding Greg offering a tender vocal on the verses before
growling his way through the chorus. Appropriately, 'Son Of The
South' is a heavy blues number, which Jon Spencer would presumably
be very proud of, and is certainly one of the best songs here; Endino
pushes the bass section right up, and Dulli delivers an arch vocal
on the verses over little more than the bass and drums before the
howling guitars force themselves back in. 'I Know Your Little Secret'
is nothing short of an emotive masterstroke, where rage is replaced
with bitter melancholy.
'Big Top Halloween', 'Sammy' and 'In My Town' are
all taken from the Whigs' self-released debut, and are much rawer
cuts, just a shade above demo standard in the production stakes;
they do, however prove how honed the band were, even in 1988. The
tracks were produced by Wayne Hartman. 'Big Top Halloween'
is a classic heavy indie track, finding Greg in places providing
a genetic link to White Stripes' Jack White, while
the band manage to sound like Dinosaur Jr and Guns n'
Roses in the same three and a half minutes. Beginning with a
melodic, elastic bassline, 'Sammy' is a heartfelt, lo-fi track with
a killer sing-a-long chorus and lyrics that seem to blend genders
at will, also deploying a fine harmonica solo. 'In My Town' is a
melodic, jangly guitar track not wholly dissimilar to James
circa Laid, with a definite folk / country sound. Back to
1989 for closing track 'I Am The Sticks' (produced by Paul Mahern),
a muscular rocker with some very Rowland S Howard guitar
melodies, over which Dulli supplies a typical tonsil-shredding vocal
performance. It's a mysterious and sonically-adventurous conclusion
to a gripping album. Not a dud track here.
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