Gangsters of Love
The Afghan Whigs
Black Love
By Mark Yarm

As a practicing masochist, the Afghan Whigs’s Greg Dulli uses bad judgment as a matter of artistic principle. For their 1993 release Gentlemen, the Whigs went to the same studio where Big Star recorded Third and emerged with the ’90s most twisted break-up album: the hellish testament of a relationship so mutually disruptive you’d think [...]

The profile of Afghan Whigs singer-songwriter-guitarist Greg Dulli has been ascending steadily through five previous, acclaimed Whigs albums and a maverick, do-what-I-damn-well-please persona that even included a stint as the voice of John Lennon on 1995’s Backbeat soundtrack. Now, with Black Love, that reputation should shoot through the roof of cultdom and into widespread praise.

4/5 Stars
Poor bugger. Once again, Greg Dulli has been unlucky in love. Previous Whigs albums suggested their helmsman’s dating life is twisted enough to give the Royals a run for their riches. But the state of his affairs has worsened in the three years since the poisoned Dear John of Gentlemen. Considerably. The title says [...]

In a world that’s becoming filled with cookie-cutter alternative bands, what’s most appealing about Afghan Whigs is that its dark, seductive sound goes back further than the heyday of Nirvana’s influence.