Album Review

The Whigs – Enjoy The Company

• 5th Aug 2013

Enjoy The Company is the fourth album from American trio The Whigs, who hail from Athens, Georgia. Released though New West Records the album was recorded at Dreamland Studios, housed in a historic church in rural Woodstock, New York, with veteran producer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Kurt Vile) at the helm. This one originally came out in the US late in 2012, but it seems to have taken a while for a UK release.

The album has an upbeat and optimistic feel, the sound more akin to country tinged Californian summer than hard edged Southern rock. And it works pretty well, even if a couple of tracks do stray from strong positivity into almost childlike nativity.

The excellent opening Staying Alive is an eight minute plus epic that immediately stands out, and not just because it is twice as long as anything else on the album. A solid guitar riff repeats throughout and Parker Gispert’s vocals have an air of a man who has been through a lot, yet lived to tell the tale and is glad to do so. Horns blare, drums pound and then just as you think the end is in sight, the track revs up again to rock out in fine fashion. This is one made for a summer outdoor festival stage.

The rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to the standard of tis opener, although that would be difficult to do, and can probably be divided into two categories. There are the up tempo rockers that excite: Gospel with its religious overtones, the driving through the night exuberance of Summer Heat and Waiting with its passionate old style rock n roll beat. And the straightforward celebration of Rock And Roll Forever, all fuzzy guitar and harmonies, is another standout.

And then there are the slower tracks, love songs with simple lyrics that at times tend towards downright cheesy. Couple Of Kids becomes ponderous as it tells of a couple of cutesy kids who might just settle down and have a couple of cutesy kids. The acoustic Thank You with its xylophone melody and sweet tone is just too much. But the closing Ours does work well, ending the album with a song that grows from a gentle acoustic musing into something much bigger when the electric guitar kicks in. A couple of big riffs precede the best guitar solo of the album,

Enjoy The Company is an enjoyable album, even with a couple of weaker tracks. The strong start and finish that Staying Alive and Ours provide more than make up for couple of missteps along the way. The Whigs may not be too well known on this side of the Atlantic, but this album is one that fans of American rock music should definitely be checking out.

Venue: Enjoy The Company
Support Band: New West