Photo credit: Chris Cuffaro
“Birdland," the first song on In Spades, the latest record from indie stalwarts The Afghan Whigs, finds vocalist Greg Dulli looking back to “When I was a child." For long-time Whigs fans used to Dulli probing the darkest recessions of the human psyche with his piercing lyrics, it’s a strange place for him to find himself. As Dulli started writing songs for In Spades, he explains that he “began to have dreams of my childhood. I can pretty much remember all the way back to three-years old."
Not surprisingly, then, In Spades, while not a concept record, uses Dulli’s recollections of the past as a starting point to create a series of songs that suggest the ambiguity of memory. “Let’s say you and I go out for a drink," Dulli suggests, “and then we’re asked to describe that event a week later. Our descriptions would be similar, but maybe not identical."
For some, such differences, however small, would be unsettling. Yet to Dulli, this historical blurriness is best approached as a “non-judgmental thing." Some things are meant to be remembered: "Save one for me," croons Dulli on “Birdland," “and I’ll never forget you." Yet there is also a sense that there are some things Dulli is hoping to let go. In the haunting ballad “I Got Lost," Dulli attempts to convince a lover that he yearns to “forget everything I ever learned."
So are there some things that should best be forgotten? Dulli isn’t so sure. Referencing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Charlie Kaufman’s 2004 film that outlines a fictional procedure capable of removing painful memories, Dulli asks, “Do you want memory? Or do you not want memory? I would choose memory." Dulli’s conclusion takes on added resonance when one realizes that the band’s current tour is playing out in the immediate aftermath of the death of Whigs guitarist Dave Rosser, who passed away from cancer in June 2017. Dulli makes sure to dedicate a song to him every night.
Such realities of middle age have allowed Dulli to escape the pitfalls of nostalgia that often entrap long-running acts. When asked to comment on the recent interest in all things ’90s, Dulli bluntly notes that “I don’t really think in terms of eras." This mindset allows Dulli to return to, and reimagine, songs years after they were initially recorded. Looking back at Gentlemen , the band’s 1993 breakthrough release, Dulli is quick to admit that “that record was kind of a mean record; it was mean-spirited."
In fact, following the release of Black Love (1996), Dulli “expunged" (his word) all songs from Gentlemen from the band’s set list. After that, Dulli continues, “I didn’t sing the song ‘Gentlemen’ for 18 years." Yet after the band reunited in 2011, Dulli, after realizing he was far removed from the person who wrote those songs nearly 20 years earlier, felt the urge to revisit the material. And when he sang these songs again? “It was like doing a play."
There is little doubt that the passage of time has taken away some of the sting that marks songs like “Gentlemen," but, as Dulli points out, “it’s still a really good song." Moreover, Dulli is adamant that “the songs I sing every night I believe in. I don’t perform them if I’m not feeling them." Based upon a track record that now spans over three decades, there is little reason to doubt him.
Afghan Whigs play Turner Hall Ballroom on Sunday, Sept. 24 with Har Mar Superstar at 8 p.m.
