Music: 9/10 Vocals: 3/5 Lyrics: 2/5 Production: 4/5
Total: 18/25: B-
The Whigs is a good band that could be great. First some accolades. Rolling Stone named them the best unsigned band in 2006. Esquire gave them a best drummer award in 2007. And I label them best bar band of 2008. Well, that last one isn't worth much.
The Whigs as a band are fantastic. Biting guitars. Really good drums. And a fantastic bass player. They range from balls-out rock to more moderate fare. And they are recorded fantastically. In fact, this should be used as a reference on how to record bass guitar. The composition is also great. The guitars bite but never go low to interfere with the bass. The drums sit perfectly. The bass has a great low end and yet clear upper end to hear the pluck of the notes. But after that here's where it goes wrong.
The singer isn't all that good. Yeah, he croons and yells. But really, it's the guitar player who happens to sing. Get a real singer and let the guitarist sing backup and you've got one terrific band. Top tier. And perhaps the producer knew it. The vocals are mostly put behind the band and lots of reverb. And the lyrics aren't all that good either.
If you saw these guys in a bar or small venue you'd think they were the best thing ever. But on a CD the flaw of the singer really stand out. He's not terrible. He's just not good enough for this band. And it may hold them back from really taking off.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment