The Whigs: Mission Control

"Like a vibration, my reputation is making the

rounds at bars," snarls Parker Gispert, kicking off The Whigs' second

full-length, Mission Control. It's wishful thinking: For the most part, The

Whigs manage little more than cross-breeding the dullest aspects of

Strokes-esque formalist garage-rock with the all-volume, all-the-time approach

of the Foo Fighters at their least subtle. 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: A brass

section makes the title of "I Got Ideas" believable, while stripping down

"Right Hand On My Heart" to guitar, drums, and vocals for most of the running

time shows terrific promise lurking underneath.