The Afghan Whigs to return this April with their first album in 16 years
Back in 2012, as he prepared for a reunion tour, Greg Dulli of the Cincinatti raised soul-inflected Afghan Whigs gave us an album-by-album tour through his band's back catalogue. At the end of the interview, we asked him whether the group might consider making another album.
"My answer is going to be ‘I don’t know,"’ Dulli replied at the time. "Swayed to give an honest answer, I’m going to wait and see how this works, y’know? To go ahead and make any grand announcement, I don’t know…I think it’s one of the smarter things I’ve done, is to say ‘Yes, I’m not saying no.’ I’m not even trying to be cagey; I’m going to see how it feels. I’m going to see if the jacket still fits or if it needs to be tailored... we’ll see."
A little over a year later, and it seems that tailoring is completed to his satisfaction as the Whigs have now announced Do To The Beast, dropping via Sub Pop on 14 April. Somewhat poetically, their early 90s breakthroughs Up In It and Congregation appeared at the beginning of Sub Pop's early boom. The band's last album, 1965, was released in 1998 via Columbia Records. They last recorded together in 2006 for the Rhino retrospective compilation, Unbreakable. Dulli has been releasing music with The Twilight Singers, collaborating with a revolving cast of players, and with Mark Lanegan as Gutter Twins since the band's breakup in 2001.
In a bizarre twist, Bob Odenkirk, best known for his role as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad, was the one to confirm news of the band's return tweeting a picture of himself with Dulli, and the message: "The great Greg Dulli of whom I am a fan tells me new Afghan Whigs album coming soon. 1st in 16 years! Kickass." With the Whigs apparently Dulli's main focus once again, the band will also be playing live at this year's now sold out Coachella Festival.
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