Gentlemen

by

The Afghan Whigs

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This is about as emotionally intense as it gets. Apart from Dylan's classic album "Blood on the Tracks," I can think of no other record that so perfectly encompasses the bitterness and beauty of heartbreak.

There's a venom that lines the music and lyrics, and everything is is almost masochistically brutal and occasionally just nasty. It's dirty and raw, and filled with an honesty that music rarely has the guts to even try to emote.

This is not some angst-ridden whining that typifies what music today offers up for expression. This is a portrait of the brutality that simultaneously tortures and enriches relationships. Loaded with malice, bitterness, insight, guilt, pennance, and love, Gentlemen is a seminal work that feels as though it's always been there. It's a soundtrack to your pain, and it aggressively forces you to confront yourself. As another reviewer put it, this album is something of a confessional, and it is hard to not identify with it, as harrowing as it can be to do so.

When Sub Pop was making it's big push, the two bands they were placing their bets on were The Afghan Whigs and Nirvana. I guess it's obvious that Nirvana "won" that contest, and while there are commonalities between the bands (and I would say that the Whigs deserve a bit more public acclaim than they have recieved), Nirvana never created anything as naked as this album. There's nothing obtuse about this; it's as straight forward and 'in your face' as rock music can be.

If you're already a fan, I would also recommend hunting down the "What Jail is Like EP," which features some of the best cover songs ever... namely the cover of The Assponies "Mr. Superlove;" which belongs up there alongside the soaring accomplishments of Gentlemen.