Consumer Guide Album

Afghan Whigs: Gentlemen [Elektra, 1993]
No Butch Vig or Steve Albini tidying or toughening up this sucker--those conflicted guitars are a direct function of the singer-writer-producer-guitarist's agonized self-exposure/-examination. If the album wears down into covers and instrumentals, that's only to signify its spiritual exhaustion. No reason to trust Greg Dulli--just his brain selling his ass at a higher convolution. But anyone susceptible to simpler lines, as fisherman or prey, can learn plenty. And the jaded can appreciate the clean, snakelike trajectory of the cast. A-