"Did I put the wrong disc in?"

I glance at my stereo, flip over the album cover. Did David Clayton-Thomas (of Blood, Sweat & Tears) release a solo record under a pseudonym? Nope, it was just not a release I would have expected from Anti-Records, but that was my only dissatisfaction for the next 37 minutes as Whitmore, as they say, "did his thing".

Deep Blues is not the sort of genre usually expected from an Epitaph run label, but those folks were damn smart in bringing Whitmore forward and into the proverbial spotlight. Seems there may be more of a connection between punk music and southern soul than originally thought.

Whitmore cut his musical teeth in the Midwestern DIY rock scene and is often called on to open for seemingly incongruous acts such as creep-country rockers Murder By Death. However, as "Animals In The Dark" features similar obsessions with sin and redemption as the country crowd, the result is an album of moralistic foreboding and regret, lining up perfectly with a culture fascinated by love and loss.

His songs are sparsely decorated with acoustic guitar or banjo (although string arrangements and pedal steel do make cameos), but with a voice as full and commanding as his it is nothing but a positive decision to downplay the other elements.

Boasting an incredible gift in the resonance and tonality of his voice, at only thirty years old he already has the timbre of an old, black man from Mississippi. Low and soulful, it takes on the role of main instrumentation, resounding in all the right corners of each song. Alternatively smoky and weary, then raspy and tormented, Whitmore's voice loops the listener into his realm one sunken note at a time.

It's unqualifiedly magnetic.

Track Listings:

1. Mutiny
2. Who Stole The Soul
3. Johnny Law
4. Old Devils
5. Hell Or High Water
6. There's Hope For You
7. Hard Times
8. Lifetime Underground
9. Let The Rain Come In
10. A Good Day To Die