Sub Pop veterans the Afghan Whigs have been ploughing their own peculiar furrow through American rock for more than 30 years now. In Spades is their second album of new material since returning to recording in 2014 with To The Beast.
I’ve spent quite a long time in the company of Brood X now and it’s my pleasure to tell you it never gets old. Coolly referencing their lengthy hiatus – the album is named after a cicada that resurfaces every 17 years – it’s a record that respects Boss Hog’s history but packs a few surprises as well.
A dream-like and at times nightmarish ride, Kristin Hersh’s new album is an extraordinarily multi-layered work that’s tough to de-code. It’s a wilfully oblique mosaic of half-realised memories of past events and emotions.