• Record Label: ATO
  • Release Date: Jan 22, 2008
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 19
  2. Negative: 1 out of 19
  1. Alternative Press
    70
    The problem with this kind of timeless rock 'n' roll is that every city in the U.S. has a band who have mnore or less mastered it. [Feb 2008, p.119]
  2. A noisy fun house bouncing around Nirvana, the Replacements, and Guided by Voices, the Whigs' sophomore slam is just as likely to push you up against a wall as whisper pillow talk.
  3. Taking pages out of some very strong playbooks (think Superchunk, Guided by Voices, early Wilco), the Whigs find a way to revive honest-to-goodness pop rock for a new generation.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    91
    Unabashedly hook-filled, the album will leave you aching to see this group live. [25 Jan 2008, p.70]
  5. American slacker act back on track.
  6. Magnet
    70
    The Whigs occassionally hit on moments of poignancy, but most of their time is spent reinventing the classic-rock wheel in a rather self-aware fashion. [Winter 2008, p.114]
  7. The album sounds like something complete, that survived the changes that were necessary to make it.
  8. Mission Control is a collection of catchy, raucous tunes. There’s little innovation here, but that’s not what these guys are about.
  9. 70
    It swaggers like prime Replacements, though with far better polish. [Jan 2008, p.103]
  10. With drums drained of nuance and guitars always overpowering, the basic song structures sound formulaic. The few songs with radical differences stand out as models of power-pop craft:
  11. The 11 songs here clock in at a tidy 37 minutes--plenty of time to flavor the straight-ahead rock jolts with spaced-out country-rock ballads and pop-flavored rave-up replete with a horn section.
  12. The Whigs are from Athens, Ga., and like Kings of Leon and My Morning Jacket, they give what they’ve learned from indie-rock a distinctly Southern stamp: a drawl in the vocals, twang and resonance in the guitars, a sense of continuity with the past..
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. KK
    Jan 30, 2008
    9
    Not as consistently good as their debut album ("Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip"), but still impressively edgy for a sophomore output. Drum Not as consistently good as their debut album ("Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip"), but still impressively edgy for a sophomore output. Drum line still leads the band forward, with Parker's impressively fluid screams providing flamboyance. Full Review »
  2. J.H.
    Jan 29, 2008
    1
    hey great name for your band even though the AFGHAN WHIGS used it 20 years ago. Yeah let me start a band called Zeppelin (no Led) and see how hey great name for your band even though the AFGHAN WHIGS used it 20 years ago. Yeah let me start a band called Zeppelin (no Led) and see how that works out or how about Pumpkins (no Smashing). Full Review »
  3. DanielC.
    Jan 28, 2008
    10
    This one is no doubt a breath of fresh air given the current state of rock. I urge you to go pick this one up today. The Whigs are also an This one is no doubt a breath of fresh air given the current state of rock. I urge you to go pick this one up today. The Whigs are also an awesome live band. Recommended tracks: "Like a Vibration," "Hot Bed," "Right Hand on My Heart," "Already Young," and "I Got Ideas." Full Review »