CD Reviews

The Whigs: Mission Control

ATO

By WERNER TRIESCHMANN | March 5, 2008

3.0 Stars

The Whigs began life as a guitar/bass/drums college band toiling away in Athens. The band’s self-released debut, which was loaded with no-nonsense frat rock, was hailed by Rolling Stone even as the songs begged to be trimmed and punched up. On their second album, the Whigs have lost a member but have made great leaps forward, even as their bar-band impulses continue to feel comfortably old-fashioned. The 11 songs here clock in at a tidy 37 minutes — plenty of time to flavor the straight-ahead rock jolts with spaced-out country-rock ballads and pop-flavored rave-up replete with a horn section. Lead singer Parker Gispert has an everyday voice that doesn’t call attention to itself. But the real hero is drummer Julian Dorio, who shows off monster chops beginning with the infectious stomp of “Right Hand on My Heart.”

The Whigs + Drive-By Truckers | Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | March 22 | 617.931.2000

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