Stylus Magazine | Evan McGarvey
On Second Thought
For better or worse, we here at Stylus, in all of our autocratic consumer-crit greed, are slaves to timeliness. A record over six months old is often discarded, deemed too old for publication, a relic in the internet age. That’s why each week at Stylus, one writer takes a [...]

Rock bands (or, more accurately, rock fans) are eternally curious as to what certain drugs sound like. The Velvet Underground probably nailed down the sound of speed on “White Light/White Heat.” Ten years of techno and countless raves have searched for the perfect ecstasy beat, and Spacemen 3 records might as well be distilled from [...]

Rating: 81
Afghan Whigs lead singer Greg Dulli’s infatuation with soul music has never been much of a secret. His band has colored their bold rock sound with old school style since their debut, even doing a handful of Motown and Stax covers as an EP four years back. Never, though, has that passion come through [...]

A
Whigs leader Greg Dulli remains a black-music ironist bar none. Merging cool- fire post-grunge into Puff Daddy quotes and symphonic blaxploitation sweep, he creates maximum premillennium tension. Yet he’s also one of rock’s finest lyricists: His noir vignettes read like a Jim Thompson novel, their erotic narratives expertly skewering the male psyche. “Whatever did happen [...]

Our Review:
A-
Sounding upbeat and refreshed after an extended New Orleans hiatus, the Whigs return with one of the year’s best albums. Infused with some of the Crescent City’s legendary good-time atmosphere, 1965 overflows with optimistic melodies that temper their crisp rock edge. Many of the tunes (notably “Somethin’ Hot”) give off a slinky soul vibe [...]