A night of Buckeye rock will fill DV8, 115 S. West Temple when the Afghan Whigs and Howlin' Maggie step on stage Wednesday, May 8.
The two bands hail from Ohio - Whigs from Cincinnati and Howlin' Maggie from Columbus - and each have a unique spin on modern rock. And another unique angle to the show, the bands will interact with each other - without a break between sets.Harold Chichester, Maggie's guitarist/vocalist, will play in both groups that night. And as one band's time ends, the other band will take over the stage in a slick, one by one replacement process.
- The Afghan Whigs have a different approach to new music rage. While others only complain and moan about life, the Whigs sing about action. This is evident in the new cut "Goin' to Town," a song about setting a city on fire (and taking total responsibility).
The Whigs' new album "Black Love" is exactly what the title suggests, a study on dark and menacing ingredients in relationships. You might say it's a sociopath's link to emotion.
Murder ("Crime Scene, Part 1"), accusation ("My Enemy") and realization ("Night By Candlelight") carries the album through dips and bends of dementia and dispair ("Faded.")
For a sixth album, the Afghan Whigs never regurgitate old formulas. Instead, the band heads to new territory and has its eye on idea-progression and musical evolution.
- Howlin' Maggie is another band inspired by dark broods of life.
Opening with "Miss Universe," the band's debut album, "Honeysuckle Strange," creates a foreboding mood of resentment and jealousy. The single "Alcohol" speaks of an addicts helplessness (and substance worship) in life.
Then by using abstract string grinds, bass picking and note bends, the band begins the headbobbing catch-tune "Rubbing the Industry Raw."
"Promise to Be Happy" is sort of a hyperactive take on the "Peter Gunn" theme, while the acoustic drige, "You Are," is a moody quip on a dark and almost obsessive relationship.
The album's most aggressive tune, however, is a dynamic blues-piece called "How the West Was One." Guitars and bass grind and chop their way through heavy drum backbeats as Chichester's vocals whine the rise of mass media numbness.
Howlin' Maggie is on to something. Not quite as accessible as other bands in the so-called "modern" category, the band manages to throw a few hooks that give "Honeysuckle Strange" a contagious sound that's hard to put down.
RATINGS: four stars (* * * * ), excellent; three stars (* * * ), good; two stars (* * ), fair; one star (* ), poor, with 1/2 representing a higher, intermediate grade.