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When Charles Dickens wrote about “the attraction of repulsion,” we’re betting he never figured on Sex & Rock ’n’ Roll applying his theory—it’s human nature to be irresistibly drawn to that which is essentially grotesque—to a review of the new Twilight Singers album. Well, here goes nothing . . . In a sense, the application works reasonably well, seeing as the strange allure of the group’s music lies smack-dab in its essential hideousness—ringleader Greg Dulli’s ditties of romantic holocausts involving, typically, sex as a weapon, drugs as sweet relief, emotional bloodbaths as inevitability, and an aftermath riddled with Greek-grade guilt.
Fact is, few musicians in recent memory have quite made a career out of being a bastard as has our man Greg Dulli. As leader of Cincinnati alt-rock kingpins The Afghan Whigs he brought to life 1993’s Gentlemen and 1996’s Black Love, two of the darkest albums of any era, in which the narrator recounts, in vivid detail, breaking his ladies and then putting them back together, only to break them again. Wrapping his bedtime stories in a potent mix of ’80s indie rock, ’70s soul, and timeless shit-eating grin, Dulli and his Whigs had the alt-rock faithful (a good many of them beautiful, broken ladies) lining up for more. As leader of the essentially solo project The Twilight Singers, his rap hasn’t changed all that much. But his talent has grown exponentially.
While the Singers’ 2000 debut was something of a curveball, courtesy of the chilled-out trip-hop vibe brought by collaborators Fila Brazillia, 2003’s follow-up, Blackberry Belle, was a throwback to vintage Afghan Whigs—a stormy, visceral beast highlighted by the brilliant “Teenage Wristband.” Long story short, until this week, we had no idea which Twilight Singers would be showing up for Round 3. Interestingly enough, it’s neither. She Loves You is, as any longtime Whigs/Singers junkie will attest, an overdue platter from a man fond of peppering his shows with surprising cover-song selections (from “Moon River” to “When Doves Cry,” “Miss World” to “Miles Iz Dead”).
A covers album? Fortunately, Dulli’s experience in treating other artists’ material makes She Loves You nearly as compelling as a set of originals. First off, he knows how to pick ’em, and he does so from the broadest of musical palettes, pulling from the likes of Nina Simone, Björk, Fleetwood Mac, Mary J. Blige, John Coltrane, and Martina Topley-Bird. Secondly, he understands that a good cover is not a rehash; it’s a reinterpretation. To his credit, Dulli has the courage to reinterpret even stone-cold classics in bold, exciting ways, not to mention the talent to pull off those reinterpretations.
Cases in point: Not only does he tackle Billie Holiday’s landmark “Strange Fruit,” but he brings to it an Abbey Road-era rock heaviness that completely reinvents the song, yet once again underscores its chilling tale. Bleeding “A Love Supreme” into “Please Stay (Once You Go Away), he intertwines the souls of two cosmic ships in the night, John Coltrane and Marvin Gaye. And what he does with Nina Simone’s “Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair” simply has to be heard to be believed. Five guest-vocal spots from Mark Lanegan, including a faithful rendition of Skip James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor,” only enables She Loves You to achieve something greater—an enduring soulfulness.
There was a time, only a few years back, when hard-line old-school Afghan Whigs fans—those who refused to even consider the uptown swagger of the group’s swansong, 1965—doubted whether Dulli’s latter incarnation would be able to achieve the artistic heights/cathartic release of such classics as “What Jail Is Like” and “Going To Town.” Truth be told, the bastard simply can’t help himself.
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