The Whigs' In the Dark

Rating: 46

Track List

1. Hundred / Million

2. Black Lotus

3. Kill Me Carolyne

4. Someone’s Daughter

5. So Lonely

6. Dying

7. I Don’t Even Care About the One I Love

8. Automatic

9. I Am For Real

10. In the Dark

11. Naked

Sometimes missing the start of a band’s career can be a good thing. Tuning in around 2002 worked out pretty well for me and The Mountain Goats. Sometimes it allows the listener to breeze through earlier struggles and development and get straight to the band in its prime. Unfortunately for The Whigs and I, In the Dark is not an ideal jumping off point. For The Whigs, all of the excitement was in the early years of raw energy that regularly sold out shows in hometown Atlanta. Their first two albums captured that energy pretty well and were enthusiastically received by most critics. But, in 2008, The Whigs toured with Kings of Leon in support of KoL’s Only By the Night which turned out to be something of a ghost of Christmas future situation for The Whigs. Early acclaim and big venues opening for U2 turned the Kings’ enterprising Youth & Young Manhood into overblown arena ready rockers without the personality. Two years later, it seems The Whigs have accepted the torch passed from the Kings. In the Dark is not just overproduced, it’s processed and pasteurized. It’s studio cheese.

Coming in three albums deep, as I have, The Whigs’ catalogue feels scattered. “Technology” and “Half the World Away” helped earn the 2005 Whigs Rolling Stone’s nomination as "perhaps the best unsigned band in America." But it’s hard to remember that charming, quirky rock band when all of their best ideas are lost In the Dark. Earlier tracks feel infused with the influences of too many rock groups to list, but the erratic flow of the music keeps it interesting and even becomes distinctive in its own way. Just like Kings of Leon, the rough edges have been traded in for streamlined rock riffs and overly indulgent production. It’s hard to tell whether The Whigs’ career bears more resemblance to the Kings’ or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but really, it’s an age-old story. Money, a little notoriety, and some fancy studio tricks have led many to stray. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to Zack Attack on Saved By the Bell. We can only hope that it won’t take a racecar accident to bring The Whigs to their senses.

To be fair, it’s not all bad… just mostly. “Hundred/Million,” the opener, makes it seem just for a minute that this latest effort will be a sharp, stronger version of earlier work. Unfortunately this is about as good as it gets. You have to believe even Nickelback is scoffing at the snarlingly overblown choruses of tracks like “Someone’s Daughter,” “Kill Me Carolyne” and “I Don’t Even Care About the One I Love.” Even criticizing those three tracks seems a little arbitrary when the problems are pretty universal on In the Dark. The more you listen to this album, the more it all homogenizes. “Dying” is about that only attempt at something beyond generic rockers, but it’s basically an extended crescendoing chorus that just serves to emphasize the faults of this entire recording.

Now that I think about it, this was probably a great place to start listening to The Whigs. Even the first two albums, though certainly entertaining, are hardly groundbreaking. There was some definite potential but it all needed a lot of work. It might just be the parting of Hank Sullivant that sent The Whigs in this direction, but either way it amounts to blown potential. Had I been a fan of the back catalogue, this album might have come as quite a blow. To listen to all three at once is to realize that The Whigs are, at best, a flash in the pan. If anything, I feel validated in my previous ignorance, and can rest assured that Rolling Stone is still usually wrong about stuff.

She & Him's Volume Two

Track List:

1. Thieves

2. In the Sun

3. Don’t Look Back

4. Ridin’ in My Car

5. Lingering Still

6. Me and You

7. Gonna Get Along Without You Now

8. Home

9. I’m Gonna Make it Better

10. Sing

11. Over it Over Again

12. Brand New Shoes

13. If You Can’t Sleep

Rating: 75

It really doesn’t seem fair that Zooey Deschanel should be talented as an actress, singer, songwriter and musician, but I’m afraid that seems to be the case. As much as I enjoy seeing smugness met with failure, She & Him doesn’t seem like it will be the project that does it to Zooey. When I heard about Volume One coming together, I was definitely hoping for a little more Him and a little less She, but it was hard to be upset with the outcome. It certainly borders on hokey, but there’s enough personality to pull it off. M. Ward’s work, mostly behind the scenes, certainly helps lend more credibility and accessibility to her work as compared to, say, If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies. Deschanel doesn’t necessarily have the greatest range, so Ward kept it interesting with fervent string arrangements, especially on “Sweet Darlin’,” and plenty of backing Zooeys to fill out the sound. When it works, it really works, but all of the tracks on Volume One walked a fine line between timeless and dated. The real standouts like “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” and “This is Not a Test” feel familiar like you’ve always known them, and with the three covers, it’s easy to wonder exactly where you’ve heard the other tracks before. The best tracks are really easy to love, the problem is, the rest are easier to forget.

Volume One made it clear that the “Him” in the band name didn’t refer to M. Ward, but to the protagonist of Zooey’s ongoing love story. The closer, “When I Get to the Border,” was more along the lines of what I was expecting going in, but She is something of a natural lead. The debut never really felt like an M. Ward album, and Volume Two continues in very much the same vein. Part of the reason the music is so comfortable is the flair Zooey has for picking covers. She really makes Volume Two’s “Ridin’ in My Car” and “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” her own. The line between hokey and endearing is never as blurry as the “uh-huhs” and “mm hmms” of the chorus on “Get Along.” It’s off-putting initially, but you just can’t help loving it. The only time the gang really crosses the hokey line is “Sing” with its unshakable resemblance to the song at the end of Elf. For the most part though, Volume Two is every bit the follow up the title implies.

“Thieves,” the elegant opener features a much more luxurious sound than Volume One offered. Ward never lets the strings overwhelm Zooey or weigh the track down. “In the Sun” and “Don’t Look Back” offer similar evidence to the production’s effectiveness to endow Zooey’s indomitable sprightliness with enough intrigue to keep it from feeling obnoxious. Somewhere between the muted guitar and the flashes of surf rock, Ward has retrofit his guitar playing to perfectly complement Zooey’s vintage sensibilities. “Lingering Still” demonstrates all of these elements that makes this act so convincing when it comes together just right. The Feist-y quiver in her voice through the chorus cuts through the mandolin and doo-wah accompaniment. Ward’s harmony on the chorus adds the perfect foil which is really what makes the whole thing work. So it’s still not necessarily the duet I was picturing in the beginning, but the division of labor has produced some pretty compelling results.

It might just be the fact that this is the second album from this act, but it really feels like there is more of an identifiable sound to the band. It feels more like She & Him the band than Zooey and friends like Volume One. The music is more natural and relevant without ever coming off as dated. “I’m Gonna Make it Better” is definitely the most exciting instrumental accomplishment from this group, but Zooey is still the star. Like his understated guitar solo on “Make it Better,” Ward’s ability to take these tracks to the next level without ever stealing Deschanel’s thunder is really the story of this album. For me, the Him will always refer to Ward.