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.