How Do You Burn?, the new and much anticipated, third post-reunion LP from The Afghan Whigs, will divide longtime fans and listeners into two decisive camps: one that loves the band trying new things and diving into uncharted territory with aplomb, and one that treats anything but a mimeographed copy of Gentlemen, the Whigs’ finest pre-reunion LP, as sacrilege.
That second group, which likely includes a litany of sad-sack music writers, isn’t very good with change and most definitely is not giving frontman Greg Dulli his due. The first group, which includes – ahem – us, is given just what they want on How Do You Burn?: a mix of strut-happy barnburners, edgy ballads and (yes) some soul-drenched fare in the voice that the Whigs have adopted since reuniting in 2012 and releasing Do to the Beast in 2014. Boys, turn it up!
So, let’s unpack the track list. There’s nothing really wrong about “I’ll Make You See God,” the raucous album-opener on the new LP, which was released Friday. But, yeah, by Dulli’s standards, it is a bit of an odd duck. The group quickly goes balls-to-the-wall on the thrashing tune, which is more reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age than it is Gentlemen or even 2017’s In Spades. A rousing number, it avoids punk tropes and phrasings, but displays that genre’s vitriolic energy and sense of reckless abandon; you can almost see Dulli moshing away as he wails over the tides of noise. It’s an interesting start, a departure and an exclamation point – these guys don’t seem fond of those who want them to stand still in time. So, there.
Later songs fall more into The Afghan Whigs tradition. “The Getaway” and “Catch a Colt” make good use of piano but are far from flaccid balladeering, and the fourth song, “Jyja,” has a kick-ass bass-and-drums blues intro and an enthralling performance from Dulli, who puts everything out there. The second half of the LP is a little more hit and miss, with strings-adorned Whigs staple-sounds (“Please, Baby, Please,” “A Line of Shots”) and boozy, after-hours contemplations (the closing – and rather righteous – “In Flames”) standing alongside ornate story-songs whose production occasionally borders on the garish (“Domino and Jimmy”).
There are moments on the LP that are borderline sensational – the group-sing and early verse call-and-respond vocals of “Take Me There,” Dulli’s wails on the faux-tragic “A Line of Shots,” Mark Lanegan’s (RIP) evocative backing vocals on two tracks, and almost the entirety of “Jyja,” a real stand-out that, yeah yeah yeah, we swear could have come from Dulli’s Twilight Singers. Then, there’s “Concealer,” the record’s most unassuming track. The intro to the thing is stripped right down to one acoustic guitar and one acoustic guitar alone, complete with scratchy sounds of callouses moving over the strings – very, very naked by How Do You Burn? standards. The piece, and it’s a great one, actually echoes Dulli’s understated cover of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” in its sense of space and intimacy. Dulli’s soft crooning over strings on the chorus, yes, will shatter your heart to pieces.
All in all, How Do You Burn? isn’t The Afghan Whigs record everyone wanted – but it’s a pretty goddamn good one. Longtime fans will need to come to a reckoning about their feelings for the pre-reunion lineup and its discography. But this LP is blowing in a mighty wind – and its take-no-prisoners approach to production, pared with some quality songwriting, will mean it will probably (and thankfully) outlast all of its detractors. Hashtag, long live Greg Dulli! — Justin Vellucci, Spectrum Culture, Sept. 12, 2022
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