The Whigs - Mission Control

The Whigs are not the same band as nineties soul rockers The Afghan Whigs. Nor are they the British political party that would later become the Liberal Party. The Whigs are a three-pronged garage band from Athens, Georgia, whose latest album, Mission Control, should be cranked up ‘til it comes snarling through the speakers.

Signed to ATO Records, home to such bands as Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, and Jem, The Whigs have a radio-friendly vibe, which is both positive and negative. The positive is that the band has talent enough to create songs that sound familiar. They make you want to sing and dance with emotion you didn’t know you felt. The negative is that it”s almost clichéd emotion. Although there are original elements, Mission Control makes so much use of familiar chord progressions that it sounds like everything else out there on the radio.

In particular, “Hot Bed” has an almost identical opening riff to Nirvana’s “Polly” and “Sleep Sunshine” sounds exactly like a Beatles song. The verse from “Right Hand on My Heart” sounds distinctly like an alternative song from the nineties (can anyone place it?), but falls flat during the chorus. The song was featured recently on the TV drama Friday Night Lights, and as such will probably appeal to teens and collegiates. “Already Young” just sounds mind-numbingly repetitive.

“Production City,” meanwhile, sounds fun because of its familiar poppy eighties vibe. The album’s namesake, “Mission Control,” stands out as a creative and soulful song. It starts out cautiously, builds, and then releases into an aching, impassioned chorus. “Like a Vibration,” in which lead Parker Gispert sexily growls out the lyrics, is a solid punk effort that tips into alt-country. The steady thump, thump, thump of Julian Dorio’s drum on “Need You Need You” emphasizes the overall rock sound of the album.

Mission Control is the type of album that makes you glad you can purchase single songs. The Whigs have a lot going for them, it’s just that a lot of what they’ve got going for them is the same thing so many other bands have.