When the Afghan Whigs returned from the wilderness in 2012, ostensibly for a series of shows celebrating their magnificent back catalogue, it was only the most optimistic of fans who seriously expected a new album from the band to emerge. It is probably reasonable to say, then, that 'Do To The Beast' has even more pressure on its shoulders than your average comeback release. I’m not sure any fan of the band could cope with a record ruining their sizeable legacy.
Thankfully, they don’t have to. 'Do To The Beast' is as confident and assured a return as anyone could reasonably expect. Parked Outside is a perfect album opener, imbued with the same strutting rock majesty that the band have always favoured, even at their least overtly ‘rock’, but equally focused on the sometimes surprising tenderness of Greg Dulli’s vocals.
The chorus is anthemic and powerful, with Dulli’s exhortations of “You’re going to make me cry” belying their simplicity thanks to a dripping stain of emotion from one of the most soulful voices in the history of rock.
Matamoros, the second song, is more unusual. Synth squelches, eastern violin flourishes and brushes of surprising technical guitar work all collide with Dulli’s most menacing tones. It’s a sub-three minute tour de force featuring the band’s previous atmospherics being reshaped with new sonic moulds.
It Kills is similarly successful, taking the widescreen string arrangements of latter day National records and combining them with the R&B/soul influences that have always helped separate the Afghan Whigs from the rest. Lead single Algiers rounds off a storming start to the record, with an acoustic-led desert rock track at times reminiscent of sometime Dulli collaborator Mark Lanegan.
It would be a little harsh, but fair, to point out that the album fails to maintain the heights scaled by its opening quartet of songs. Lost in the Woods starts with haunting piano but treads uncomfortably along a line bordering saccharine modern day U2 territory on occasion, while Can Rova and Royal Cream don’t live up to the standards set by earlier trips into similar territory (folky acoustics and driving garage rock respectively).
Having said that, the second half of the album also includes the storming The Lottery, which sees ex-Emeralds man Mark McGuire provide a more tasteful U2ism with his guitar work, the wonderful trip-hop inflected I Am Fire and the epic closer These Sticks.
In essence, 'Do To The Beast' isn’t as consistent as ‘Gentlemen’ or ‘Black Love’, two of the most essential and influential alt-rock records of the ‘90s, but it’s much more welcome than that statement perhaps allows. Dulli has done great things in his years away from the Afghan Whigs, but his renewal of this band - and it is very much his renewal given the fact that only bassist John Curley survives from the ‘1965’-era line-up - has provided a catalyst for some of the most essential rock songs in recent years. Welcome back.
The Afghan Whigs Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue July 15 2014 - LONDON Electric Ballroom
Thu July 17 2014 - MANCHESTER Cathedral
Fri July 18 2014 - GLASGOW O2 ABC
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