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Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

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‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Reviews Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary? Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Lifestyle The New Sober Boom Getting Hooked on Quitting

Getting Hooked on Quitting

Education Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous Is College Necessary?

Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous

Is College Necessary?

Finance Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear

Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset

Crypto Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Investing SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters ‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters

‘Dark’ Personalities Drawn to BTC

Afghan Whigs don’t sound like the ’90s anymore

On "Soft Control," Greg Dulli and the Afghan Whigs prove 40 years hasn't dulled their edge

Published August 25, 2026 12:00PM (EDT)

Greg Dulli and his Afghan Whigs are back with “Soft Control.” The new Whigs record is a strong collection of material that stands solidly amongst the existing catalog of v2 Whigs albums, with big rockers, piano ballads, and tape loops neatly nestled against guitar feedback. It also brings stellar guitar work, a new drummer and features Dulli’s vocals in a way you haven’t heard them previously.

2026 is also being claimed as the 40th anniversary for this particular band of brothers, and it is indeed 40 years since the original ensemble first formed: Dulli alongside bassist John Curley (still present and accounted for), guitarist Rick McCollum, and a succession of drummers across the decades. The current lineup features Dulli, Curley, musical Swiss Army Knife Rick T. Nelson, guitarist Christopher Thorn and new drummer Bryan Lee Brown. 

As the principal songwriter, what you hear on any Greg Dulli record is where he is at that moment in time. 

The Afghan Whigs were in official existence until 2001, when they amicably parted ways. The ensemble with the three core members reformed briefly back in 2012, and the Whigs have been an ongoing concern since then, operating under the late Mark E. Smith’s ethos of, “If it’s me (in this case, Mr. Dulli) and your granny on bongos, it’s the Afghan Whigs.” (Smith, of course, made that statement about the Fall, who went through over 60 musicians over its 40-year duration.) It’s a benevolent dictatorship.

The Whigs records made post-breakup — hence the v2 designation — retain many of the elements of the band’s soul-meets-classic rock trademark style, while incorporating many of the more modern R&B/electronic hallmarks of the projects that occupied Dulli’s time post-Whigs v1: the Twilight Singers and the Gutter Twins, the latter being essentially the Twilight Singers but with Mark Lanegan (of blessed memory) on vocals. But it’s a vibe, not a formula; as the principal songwriter, what you hear on any Greg Dulli record is where he is at that moment in time. 

“Soft Control”’s biggest delight is how fantastic Dulli’s voice sounds, and how prominent it is in the mix. Dulli has lived a life — he’s never been shy or apologetic about his use of controlled substances in the past, and they’re the kind of thing that can take its toll on your voice with continued use, not to mention the simple accumulation of years. Dulli’s voice has always been commanding but now it has depth and a richness. You can hear clear and compelling evidence of this on the........

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