The Whigs / The Features
About The Whigs
It takes cojones to do this stuff as if no one has ever done it before, but you've got to respect the outcome, and, over-the-top or not, at least Mission Control doesn't f~~k around. Like some big car-driving bad seed pulling up outside the high school, it's an easy album to fall for. ... more »
About The Whigs
It takes cojones to do this stuff as if no one has ever done it before, but you've got to respect the outcome, and, over-the-top or not, at least Mission Control doesn't f~~k around. Like some big car-driving bad seed pulling up outside the high school, it's an easy album to fall for.
- PitchforkMedia.com
(Mission Control review, 7.0)
"The best unsigned band in America"
- Rolling Stone
(10 Artists to Watch feature)
"Think Superchunk meets the Replacements."
- Entertainment Weekly
In a town that probably has more bands per capita than any other in these United States, Athens, Georgia's the Whigs have the dubious distinction of being Most Likely To Succeed.
- The FADER
Best Drummer of 2007
- Esquire Magazine
(Esky Awards April 07 Issue)
About The Features
It's been four years since Nashville, TN's best kept secret The Features snuck onto our speakers with their critically lauded debut, Exhibit A. The record strengthened their already rabid hometown cult following and won over critics in both the US & UK press while shows with Kings of Leon, the Raconteurs and The Walkmen and sets at Redding & Leeds festivals showed off their brazenly flawless live show. Quite suddenly, The Features disappeared and left us wondering what had happened to the Southern four piece who were bound to become our next favorite band. But now, with trademark pop hooks and stellar songwriting in tow, The Features are returning this spring with an off-kilter masterpiece of a sophomore album, Some Kind of Salvation, due out May26th. The album will be distributed nationwide by Red Eye Distribution.
The Features formed as middle-schoolers in Sparta, Tennessee, a small Southern town that boasts bluegrass picker Lester Flatt as its claim to fame. The group of classic rock-loving adolescents had big ideas while sitting in the school cafeteria, but they hadn't acquired instruments yet. Due to the lack of a proper drum set, the Features first generation percussion section was beat box, and no one was eager to play bass. Bassist Roger Dabbs remembers the band's sales tactics.
"They were like, 'man, you gotta love the bass!" he says. "'Listen to this bass.' They put on some AC/DC and I was kind of like...'where's the bass?' It was completely drum and guitar heavy. But I ended up really loving the instrument."
After high school, founding members Dabbs and Matt Pelham relocated to the college town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the mid-'90s, eventually recruiting current drummer Rollum Hass, a fan of the band who already knew most of the Features' drum parts upon auditioning. The band never went without devoted fans, and their kinetic individuality garnered attention from industry folks who believed them to be "the next big thing." Their jumping live show includes a far-reaching catalogue of beloved songs, among many new ones. Yet the question remains, why do The Features remain unknown to the majority of the indie culture? The answer could possibly have roots as far back as the nineties, when the band was constantly bearing the brunt of bad luck and bad timing, being led astray by indie record labels with empty promises with no recorded music on the market to show for it.
Some Kind of Salvation's lilting opener, "Whatever Gets You By," is seemingly the band's call to arms. With the eerie suspense of a performing acrobat, Pelham softly sings:
So here we are, it's like we never really left the start
Time heals the wound, but then there's still a scar
To remind us of the way it's meant to be
Some Kind of Salvation combines the eclectic, folksy sensibility of the band's EP, The Beginning (2003, Fierce Panda), with the driving, live energy of Exhibit A, the group's first full-length, which was released by Universal in 2004. The new album also expands on the band's self-released EP Contrast (2006), which experimented with new soundscapes and included the band's first collaboration with keyboardist Mark Bond. His subtle textures and a new sonic fullness to the band's vintage, melodic pop songs.
"We've always tried to put out records and play music that's timeless," says Pelham. "Hopefully what we've done will hold up." « hide
