The Year: 1983The Album: Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen
Who it Influenced: The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus, The Constantines, Foo Fighters, Mark Lanegan, Interpol
Chances are, if you're going to a summer festival this year, you're going to be watching the Afghan Whigs. On many bills, they're pretty high up, a feted entry on the line-up effectively filling the 'reformed '90s rockband' slot previously occupied by Pavement, Pulp et al.
For younger listeners, maybe this doesn't seem strange: the Afghan Whigs have a bunch of celebrated records —1993's Gentlemen has had book written about it— and were a part of that happy orgy of Sub Pop acts who inked to major labels and played Lollapalooza. I mean, they were peers of Soundgarden and Nirvana, say no more.
Except, in their day, the Afghan Whigs were defined by their underdog status. Their fans came to worship them whilst building up a weird inferiority complex; the lack of (relative) commercial success leading Whigs lovers to believe they appreciated and understood Greg Dulli and co in a way that casual listeners just couldn't get.
And never was there more a case for this than with Gentlemen, which for all its lack of an MTV-blasted hit single, was an astonishing LP: a full-length narrative study in infidelity, sex and drug addiction, and deceit that only revealed itself over sustained listens.
- Full review: Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen
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