The Afghan Whigs - Uptown Avondale

 Cool Reborn
"The Rebirth of Cool" has to be one of the greatest re-interpretations ever. To call it a cover song is to shortchange the artistic brilliance. Not always consistent in their intensity across the span of a full-length this EP suspensefully builds into its final tune and demands that you keep the replay programmed into your player. I would argue that this stands as the Afghan Whigs best. November 30, 2006

 Beware is a brilliant cover
Other reviewers have given most of Uptown Avondale good coverage. However, they have all overlooked something: "Beware" is the best track on this EP!

Who else but the Whigs could turn a typical Al Green ballad--pleading, sensitive, soft--into a twisted and demented warning?

Dulli whines and howls over a slimy and mesmerizing drone, threatening to MAKE somebody love him (Al would make somebody LOVE him, right?). It feels like running into Nosferatu, late at night, and he chases you into a dark alley...and then asks for a date. Creepy...weird...terrifying!

One star off because "True Love on a Gravel Road" sounds tossed off to me and the "Milez Iz Ded" remix doesn't add much to the album version. Don't let that put you off though; this disc is well worth seeking out. November 5, 2005

 Overlooked in the Whigs' Catalogue
"Uptown Avondale" is the last of the Whigs' releases on Sub Pop, and while somewhat of an oddity compared to the rest of their albums, it nevertheless is a great addition, and generally overlooked.

"Uptown Avondale" (5 tracks, 21 min.) contains 4 R&B covers and one Greg Dulli song. The best covers here are Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" and the Supremes' "Come See About Me". If you didn't think that grunge-meets-motown can sound gorgeous, the Whigs prove it right here. The only Dulli tune is the 6 min. "Rebirth of the Cool", which made me think of the Stone Roses' "Fool's Gold", another classic song.

This EP may not be "essential" in the Whigs' catalogue, but it contains some really great songs. BUY IT!

(Incidentally, in case you wonder about the title of the EP, "Uptown Avondale" refers to a neighborhood in Cincinnati, which of course was the home base of the Whigs for most of their 15 or so years.) January 18, 2004

 Great collection of covers
This EP, their last recording for the label Sub Pop, is comprised of four classic R&B covers, plus a remix of their "hidden" track from the album Congregation (called "Milez is Dead" there, "Rebirth of the Cool" here).

The EP opens with the sizzling "Band of Gold," the classic Freda Payne tune. The Whigs have a tendency to redo all of their covers in a minor key, and this fact, accompanied by the howl of Greg Dulli and Rick McCollum's guitars, make this unforgetable. "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road" is absolutely haunting, turning the Elvis Presley song into a melancholy- bordering on morose- piece. The cornerstone of the EP, though, is the cover of the Supremes' "Come See About Me." I can't really describe it, but it's one of the few covers which I think is on par with the original (which is an excellent song to begin with).

The album begins to wind down with Al Green's "Beware," a great, if slightly haphazard tune. This track immediately heads into the only real downside to Uptown Avondale: the remix of "Rebirth of the Cool." It drags on much too long (a problem plaguing the original), and the percussive dance beats and vocal shifting downplay the rage embodied in the original.

Uptown Avondale is a great collection of covers, and one fairly decent remix. This is an excellent recording of the Whigs paying homage to the R&B roots they embraced. January 8, 2003

 Outstanding disc
The boys prove themselves to be great once again on this disc. These aren't mere covers: they actually manage to put their own spin on established classics. claiming them as their own. Never mind all the bad metal groups trying to put on "evil" airs -the Whigs are downright sinister in their coolness. Literate,witty, everything Morrissey would be if he ever got over himself. Rank among the Placemats as the greatest real bands. January 10, 2002

More reviews at Amazon.com ...