Today, the Whiffs

Yesterday I called L.A.’s Starcrawler the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world. 

Today, it’s the Whiffs. 

A power-pop band from Kansas City. I recommend the Whiffs if you like Norwegian black metal. Not because they sound like Mayhem or Gorgoroth, but because there are laws against church burning and the Whiffs would never incite such a thing. Their songs are about various stages of infatuation, the yoozh for power-pop. Cheery melodies in bright keys with sprightly tempi tend not to mulch into diatribes against the Caliphate. Although a lot of shit rhymes with Caliphate … hmm (I can hear Joey Ramone rhyming Caliphate with ‘too late.’). But clearly, I digress. 

Take a Whiff is a blast. Eight shots of tuneful adrenaline. Okay, one song is ALMOST three minutes - a veritable jam. But you can fade it out. No problem (kidding). Not a token slow dance dragger on this puppy. Mid-tempo and up-tempo. There’s never a reason for a pop band to do a slow song unless it’s poetic and melodically gorgeous - pull that off, fine. But how many Brian Wilsons are there, anyway?

Let's hear a track by the Whiffs, eh? 

They’ve been compared to Big Star. Nah. More like a cross between the Ramones and Shake Some Action-era Flamin’ Groovies. I hear a resemblance to the Zeros, and similarities to Glitz (check them out … if you can find anything by them, no YouTube, no Apple Music). The Whiffs are professed fans of the late great Exploding Hearts, which I get, I hear, yup … except Zach Campbell, Rory Cameron, and whoever else sings don’t go for that Mick Jones-y transatlantic chirp-yowl that Adam Cox favored. More true to their American roots in that department. 

Cameron is known to KC audiences as the frontman for the Conquerors (above video), another cool band, that started out kinda psych-jammy (think Spaceman 3 maybe?) and gravitated to a bit more manicured and Beatlesque take on the same turf covered by the Whiffs. He’s a talent. Anything he does is interesting because he’s one of those guys who knows how to construct a song, not just come up with a melody. 

The Whiffs rock out some nice pop tunes. Take a Whiff has a nice mid-fi, bash it out, live or close to it feel. Shit sounds great in the car, tuned up loud. 

And yes, their logo pays homage to Stiff Records. Thought I’d better mention that before some pinhead tries to inform me.