Afghan Whigs are poised to return with Do To The Beast, the band's first new album in 16 years next week. The record is pretty much everything you'd want from an Afghan Whigs record -- it's rocking, strong, smooth, and sexy. According to Greg Dulli, the album's ten songs are linked:
"The first and last tracks are the poles, and then each song has a partner. Matamoros and It Kills, Algiers and Lost in the Woods, The Lottery and Can Rova, then finally Royal Cream and I Am Fire are partners. The mother and father are at the beginning and end."
Do To The Beast is streaming in full ahead of its April 15th release over at NPR. Give the album a listen here, and pre-order the album from Sub Pop, iTunes, or Amazon. [Sub Pop is offering a "Loser" edition of the album pressed on white vinyl while supplies last.]
After listening to the full album stream, be sure to check a track-by-track commentary written by Greg Dulli himself over at The Skinny. Dulli doesn't give up too much about the song meanings -- he's always preferred to let the listener come up with their own interpretations -- but he does explain how the songs came about, and the different musicians who helped the journey along. For instance, he explains the story behind the album's title:
"Manuel Agnelli [of Afterhours] was visiting from Italy. When he showed up I didn’t see him come in – I was busy beatboxing in the studio. Afterwards he said ‘That was crazy, it sounded like you were saying "do to the beast what you do to the bush."’ I remember looking at John Curley and I’m like ‘Man, I think he just named the record.’"
Check out the full article here.
Don't miss the Afghan Whigs live when they come to your city. More dates are expected to be announced shortly.
4/10 -- Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet's
4/11 -- Indio, CA @ Coachella
4/14 -- Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
4/15 -- Seattle, WA @ Showbox Market
4/17 -- San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
4/18 -- Indio, CA @ Coachella
5/15 -- Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl
5/16 -- Boston, MA @ Paradise
5/17 -- Baltimore, MD @ Otto Bar
Published on April 7th, 2014 @ 5:53 AM