THE WHIPSAWS

Even before noticing that the The Whipsaws' latest CD was dedicated to Neil Young and Crazy Horse, the unmistakable influences of Buffalo Springfield and Mr. Young were evident. But this band from Anchorage doesn't contain itself to the sway of the indomitable Young on its new 60 Watt Avenue CD. The band, formed in 2002, has worked hard to forge a style of their own, a blend of Americana, roots rock, twangy and crunchy guitars, which they call Alaskan Rock n' Roll. On “Jessi Jayne” they cut loose with a honky-tonk number, replete with a jangly pedal steel and fuzzy lead guitar. On the next song, “Coming Home,” steel guitar, acoustic guitar and banjo mix with the soulful voice and somber lyrics of Evan Phillips to evoke the sound of early Son Volt. Other times, the band sounds like the Bottle Rockets playing at the corner bar having a high time or singing a plain-spoken, whiskey-soaked confessional. The songs are compelling stories of heartbreak, loss and the rough-and-tumble life in a land that has more dark than light for many months of the year. Given that, it's no wonder they've picked Neil Young as their patron saint. The instrumental, “Ode to Shakey,” pays homage to the solo from “Cowgirl in the Sand,” albeit mercifully shorter at 2:14. - Freight Train Boogie

I was introduced to The Whipsaws by one of my favorite blogs, Nine Bullets. Normally I would leave well enough alone, as Nine Bullets does a great job, but I feel it’s my duty to spread the word about the Anchorage four-piece. They’ll be bouncing around at SXSW 2008 in March and deserve to be heard by as many ears as possible.

The band calls their blend of rootsy Americana “Alaskan Rock N Roll.” That’s a fair description and easy enough to wrap your head around. I can make it simpler. Do you like Lucero? Drive-By Truckers? Wrinkle Neck Mules? Yes, yes yes? Good, me too. Okay, now that we’re all on the same page, let’s welcome one of Alaska’s most popular bands as they hit the lower 48 on an extended tour.

“The War,” looks at our current struggle in Iraq from a very personal point of view. Look, I am not the biggest fan of the war over there, but I don’t like someone else’s view shoved down my throat. Much like Jason Isbell’s Dress Blues, the subtle personal approach packs much more of a punch.

Other standouts are the twangy “Coming Home,” “Lonesome Joe,” and “Sinferno” which packs the multi-guitar wallop of Drive-By Truckers. Just when you think the disc can’t have anything else to offer you, they fire up a rocking version of Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul.”

There’s a good amount of buzz about these guys. After an extensive tour and a massive introduction to rest of America, there’s no reason The Whipsaws won’t be on everybody’s end of the year lists.
- HearYa Blog.com

THE WHIPSAWS
***
60 WATT AVENUE (Blue Rose Records)
On the fine follow-up to their 2006 debut, this Alaskan bunch sound
like Drive-By Truckers channelling Wilco (Seven Long Years), Neil
Young (rousing cover of Mr.Soul) and both on anti-war anthem The War.
Unafraid to rock out, but their best songs are mid-to-downtempo: banjo
and steel ballad Lonesome Joe and great Gram-via-Tweedy country rocker
Stick Around.
- Mojo Magazine (UK)

In the early 80s Andy Kershaw was interviewing Neil Young on his tour bus, Andy played Neil a Green On Red song. Andy asked Neil, ‘do you know this song’?…..Neil listened to the song coming out of the cassette deck and in his languid style said….’I think it’s Crazy Horse but I don’t recognize the song’. The reason for this preamble is that The Whipsaws latest record is dedicated to Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and cover Neil’s ‘Mr. Soul’ and there is a brief instrumental interlude called ‘Ode To Shakey’ – this record could be Neil Young & Green On Red – it’s that good!

Green on Red are no longer, Crazy Horse in hibernation but Neil is very much with us

The four-piece band is Aaron Benolkin (guitar, lap steel, banjo & vocals), Ivan Molesky (bass), Evan Philips (guitar, harmonica & vocals) and James Dommek (drums, guitar & vocals) they formed in 2002. The band are from Alaska, and write all their own songs apart from the one cover here – mixed by John Agnello with several guest musicians which include the excellent Tim Easton.

While acknowledging the influence of Neil & Crazy Horse, this is very much their own record. The band are confident enough to tackle straight ahead blistering country rock, ballads and on one the best songs on the record ‘The War’ make their own statement about the current mess over in Iraq. Along the same lines ‘Lonesome Joe’ views the world from a returning soldier from an earlier conflict.

‘Mr Soul’ is given an exciting new treatment and although almost 40 years old the song sounds as fresh as ever, featuring some blistering guitar inter play, the instrumental ‘Ode to Shakey’ is a two minute song that sounds like Neil & Crazy Horse working out in Neil’s barn – a completely different way to acknowledge Neil’s influence on this record.

The band is preparing to tour Europe in 2008 and this record confirms the arrival of great new American band. If you like Neil, Green On Red, Drive By Truckers or The Bottle Rockets then I have no hesitation in recommending this sublime new release from the Whipsaws.


Date review added: Monday, February 11, 2008
Reviewer: andy riggs
Reviewers Rating: 9 out of 10
Related web link: www.thewhipsaws.com - American UK

Like any music fan, I spent a considerable amount of time in the week before I went on vacation planning and compiling iPod playlists for any type of situation/mood I could think I might find myself in. I like country, but let’s be real, Porter Wagner doesn’t need to be in your ear as you go over the edge of a black diamond. He is, however, perfect for the Apres Ski hot tub time. Then, the day before I leave, The Whipsaws’ new cd, 60 Watt Avenue, shows up in my mailbox. I had been eagerly anticipating the album, but assumed it would come while I was gone (I like Miles of Music as much as the next person, but let’s be real…their shipping is rather slow). With no real time to mix it into my playlists, I just riped it and tossed it on the iPhone. I may as well have deleted the “while riding” playlist and put this right into my Essential Listening playlist.

The Whipsaws are a rock and roll band from Anchorage, Alaska. There’s no shortage of people who will refer to them as an alt.country act based on their country debut, Ten Day Bender, but 60 Watt Avenue is a rock and roll album sans a subgenre hyphen. Sounding like an early version of the Drive-by Truckers without that early Trucker twang, they have released a great bar room rocker of an album. Apparently, with 60 Watt Avenue they have decided to quit their day jobs and give their rock and roll dreams a go. Personally, I think they made the right album for it. Featuring the production of John Agnello (Son Volt, The Hold Steady, Sonic Youth) and an appearance by Mr. Tim Easton, the cd contains honest, from the cuff lyrics, backed by the type of bar room vibe that will catch the attention of people just there to drink. They’ll be touring the lower 48 for the bulk of 2008, check ‘em out if they get to your neck of the woods. I know I will. - Ninebullets.net

(4 out of 5)

In the South we sometimes forget about our kindred spirits way up North. Alaskans have many of the same qualities as Southerners. A strong sense of independence, a yearning for wide open spaces and a tendency to raise hell when the opportunity arises and a deep appreciation of American Southern musical heritage.

Straight out of Anchorage The Whipsaws sound like they could be from anywhere South of the Mason-Dixon instead of a few thousand miles to the North where for the past five years, they have traveled the vast isolated miles playing smoke-filled saloons and paying their dues on cold winter nights cultivating a uniquely Alaskan brand of country-rock.

Cribbing from the best that Southern rock offers - Neil Young, The Band, The Allman Brothers and Uncle Tupelo, singer/songwriter/guitarist Evan Phillips, bassist Ivan Molesky, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Aaron Benolkin and drummer James Dommek, Jr. blend melodies, harmonies and sonic blasts in measures that make each song inspired with passion and not merely the aping of past glory.

The Whipsaws first full-length since their 2006 debut,Ten Day Bender, which reached #133 on the AMA chart, #28 on the Roots Music Report for Roots Rock, and debuting at #12 on the Euro Americana chart., 60 Watt Avenue carries the sound forward and has all their wares on display in fine form. The title track busts out big and then settles into a smooth vibe with crying bottle-neck guitar and Dommek’s clockwork drum work. As the song concludes Phillips screams out “I believe in rock and roll!” the band has left you no doubt that the sentiment is true.

Jessi Jane is a rollicking shuffle about wayward, boozy love that may or may not be about the porn star. The lonesome steel and fiddle laced Coming Home hearkens back to Uncle Tupelo’s Anodyne and Stick Around a love song with an askew melody that sound like it was written with a bottle a bottle of whiskey and a piano with the excellent “There are mysteries that surround you, that I don’t want to solve.” chorus of surrendering to ambiguity.

High Tide brings us to Allman Brothers wide-open road song terrain with a story of small-town woes featuring some great harmonica work. Lonesome Joe is a banjo and steel driven narrative of sage advice and life lessons from a Harley riding vet that is forged with beauty and sorrow. And The War continues the Allman-tinged aesthetic protest song that carries on the fine folk/country tradition of telling small stories to make a big point about humanity. Sinferno and Bar Scar blistering barroom brawlers right out of the hard-rock boogie Lynyrd Skynyrd playbook.

The band addresses one of their influences directly by covering Buffalo Springfield’s Mr. Soul – which was originally a great reworking of “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” the cover proves to be a worthy addition scorching wah-pedal leads sure to make Neil Young smile. Ode To Shakey is a moody analogue textured piece with a sloppy-jammed up lead that could have been lifted from a Mr. Young sound check. Seven Long Years is a dobro and harmonica blended gospel tune about temperance and redemption which features New West’s Tim Easton.

The Whipsaws can comfortably take their rightful place among current Southern Rock standard bearers like The Drive By Truckers and Alabama’s Caddle as they blaze a trail into the sunset. - Twangnation.com

Alaska`s undisputed bar-band champions follow up the fine country-drenched Ten Day Bender with and ode to rock n roll. Emphasize the rock. Sounding like later-day Uncle Tupelo, 60 Watt Ave`s title track stomps out of the gate like a mustang. Evan Phillips vocals range from sensitive to swagger; the music moans and rocks. The band calls their brand of music Alaskan Rock n` Roll even if the rest of the world might say this crunchy, twangy guitars-fueled album sounds like it came right out of America`s heartland. Those looking to fill that rock jones that frequently gets overlooked in Americana can stop right here. This albums sweats rock n roll. -- Jeff Weiss, Miles of Music (self-released) - Miles of Music

The Whipsaws have scored the ultimate independent rock band's dream, and it isn't a major label deal -- it's a free rehearsal space stocked with a lifetime's supply of cold beer.

But the taps in the wall of the Moose's Tooth Brewing Co. warehouse aren't working too hard this Sunday afternoon. Guitarist Aaron Benolkin and drummer James Dommek Jr. each nurse glasses of their favorite microbrews between songs, but the quartet is chugging water like a football team doing two-a-days. This is a work shift for the Whipsaws, a band which is also a business, an honest to goodness LLC.

This second straight day of three-hour rehearsals is preparation for a series of release parties for the band's new CD, "60 Watt Avenue," this month and the base for touring the Lower 48 later this year.

"One more time," singer Evan Phillips says after the band's third stab at "Where I Live," a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Leeroy Stagger. Stagger will open the Whipsaws' upcoming shows, and the band plans to back him on a few tunes.

Satisfied with this try, the band strolls into a room full of massive silver tubs of brewing beer. Benolkin turns on an iPod stereo and plays another Stagger song the group has to learn. They've occasionally rehearsed in this building since forming, an arrangement procured by Benolkin, who daylights as a Moose's Tooth brewer.

After just five years of grinding and gigging from Fairbanks to Kennicott to Seward, the group already stands as an institution: Alaska's undisputed bar band champions. The Whipsaws' sound -- a sometimes crunchy, sometimes melodic blend of country and rock that critics call Americana and the band calls Alaskan Rock 'n' Roll -- and boot-stomping live shows pack tiny taverns such as the Brown Bear Saloon in Indian and sell out spacious rooms like the Bear Tooth Theatrepub.

But just as the band has established a signature sound and a semi-lucrative in-state touring circuit, the Whipsaws are scrapping the whole deal. In 2007, band members -- including bass player Ivan Molesky, who joined the group in October 2006 -- agreed to take the leap and dedicate two years to seeing how far they can take the Whipsaws. And for a group whose members who are in their mid-20s to early 30s, that means the possibility of quitting stable day jobs and leaving behind family and friends for months.

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"We're spoiled up here, but we can't just keep playing up here," Benolkin admitted. "Playing music is something we all love, but we want to make it our living. We believe that's within reach, so we're going to at least try it or it would be something we all regret later."

"60 Watt Avenue" is the starting point. The album is a departure from the band's 2006 country-fest "Ten Day Bender," which played like a novel about old-time Alaska's mysterious faces and majestic places. Phillips describes the title "60 Watt Avenue" as "a metaphor for the road to rock 'n' roll," and it leads the band through garage rocking ("Sinferno") to acoustic plucking ("Lonesome Joe"), honky- tonking ("Jessi Jane") to good ol' rock 'n' rolling ("High Tide").

"I think with the first record, we pigeonholed ourselves a bit," Phillips, the band's lead songwriter, explained. "It was real thick on the country side. As this record evolved more, we developed into a rock band."

Fittingly, the rocking track "60 Watt" leads off the album, and equally fitting, the band hopes that sending the album to clubs and radio stations around the world will create a buzz that will help the band spend half of 2008 touring.

"I think we feel like we can play with anybody right now," Phillips said. "We didn't feel that way two years ago. Now, we could go on tour with a band like Drive-By Truckers, open for a band like that. Just walk onstage, do what we do and not blink an eye."

The Whipsaws have hired a lawyer and a management team that is negotiating distribution deals and shipping out CDs for promotion.

But four company employees aren't getting paid. The band played about 100 four-hour gigs in 2007, but the members sacrificed their pay to finance touring and the making of "60 Watt Avenue," which weighed in at a hefty $20,000. It was recorded locally with Erik Braund but mixed in New Jersey by John Agnello, whose resume spans Sonic Youth to Son Volt.

"Something that's been nice about working in this band is we don't worry about money," Benolkin said. "We worry about doing it right."

This might be work, but it certainly isn't punching a clock.

Nearing the end of rehearsal, the session becomes suddenly serious for the first time all day. Phillips begins to dissect a Stagger song that the band has seemingly just nailed. Then Phillips pauses and announces, "It's not about having fun at practice -- it's work!"

The crew laughs, but Phillips stays in character.

"Do you guys want careers or what?" he yells. "I'm not going to give you your monthly $25 stipend!"

Phillips joins in the chuckles, then suggests the band wrap up rehearsal by taking another run at a new original, the surprisingly sugary and incredibly irresistible "Don't You Want to Be in Love?"

"We're getting in touch with our pop side," Phillips said, sparking another round of laughter.

After stumbling a bit on the song earlier in rehearsal, the band cruises through this take. Its sing-song lyrics and hop-along rhythm draw two friends out of a nearby room. They peek inside, nod their heads and tap their hands against their jeans.

The band also gets caught up in the song, which is sprinkled with mini-solos for each member. Phillips and Benolkin make eye contact, smile then turn to Dommek, who slams a cymbal to end the song.

"Awwww, we did it!" Dommek shouts.

The workday is over. - Anchorage Daily News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska may not be the first place you think of when great bands come to mind. But one local band is changing that.

A few self-professed "regular guys" are rocking sold-out crowds around the state.

It's a Thursday night at the Bear Tooth Theatre and the floor is packed. Hundreds of people squished together to see a band that's proud to be Alaskan.

Junior Dommek is the drummer for The Whipsaws.

"I'm a lifelong Alaskan, I love this place and I love the extremes of the seasons," Dommek said. "The people here, it's just a different kind of people and I enjoy it."

Lead singer Evan Phillips said they picked the name The Whipsaws because it reminded them of people working in the backwoods of Alaska.

"We just thought it was a really cool, unique kind of Alaska-rugged name," Phillips said. "We all liked it and it stuck."

The Whipsaws started out in 2002 and admit they weren't exactly "phenomenal" back then.

But they said they've grown a lot since, fine-tuning their skills over the past few years, and molding their music into a genre they call Alaskan Rock and Roll.

But what is Alaska Rock and Roll?

Phillips said it's a little bit of everything with Alaskan experiences rolled in.

"There's hints of blues, there's hints of country and there's hints of grunge," Phillips said.

Thursday's concert was in honor of The Whipsaws' sophomore album release, "60 Watt Ave," something Phillips said they worked on for more than a year.

"I think we made the record that we wanted to make, which feels really good," Phillips said. "When you play music as much as we do it becomes as much of your life as it has become ours."

Dommek said the band is humbled by the sold-out crowds it's been playing to and by the response they've received.

"We're just a bunch of regular guys. It's crazy to just play a show at the Bear Tooth," Dommek said.

The Whipsaws plan to continue touring throughout the year. They are playing the Great Bear Brewing Co. in Wasilla on Friday night.

Contact Jennifer Zilko at jzilko@ktuu.com - KTUU.com Channel 2 News - Anchorage, AK

WHIPSAWS
One up on the Lower 48
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

(ND #75 :: May-June 2008; LAST PRINT ISSUE)

The Whipsaws may be the most popular bar band in Alaska. Certainly they have logged the most miles across the tundra, with the deepest repertoire of original music, routinely playing four-hour gigs in the live-music-starved watering holes of the hinterlands. In the process, they've engaged a broad array of Alaska's more colorful characters, several of whom turned up on their 2005 release, Ten Day Bender.

A mostly country-sounding affair, Bender was a collection of, er, Alaskana. Hugely popular with the locals, it also spent six months on the Americana radio charts. The band's growing popularity inspired both a commitment to turn their lives to music full-time, and a powerfully expressive shift to the more rockin' heart of things. A brief U.S. tour early this year, in connection with their stint backing up Tim Easton at South By Southwest, confirmed that a future awaited them outside their home state. The new disc 60 Watt Avenue is their launchpad.

When the band decided to give up their day jobs, their bassist bowed out, but his replacement opened new horizons. Lead singer and songwriter Evan Phillips explains, “Our new bass player (Ivan Molesky) added a really rocking element (that) allowed us to do things we couldn't do before. So I was feeling really inspired because Ivan joined the band, and feeling angry that it's such a struggle to keep a band together. With all these feelings I was having, I ended up writing the bulk of the record in, like, a couple weeks.”

As the band pulled together the arrangements, they began to feel that, like Bender and Alaska, 60 Watt Avenue seemed to have a theme, this time rooted in their common enthusiasm for Neil Young. “We all have different backgrounds,” guitarist Aaron Benolkin says of the band members' prior projects in blues, jazz, alt-country and rock, “but we all overlap right there. Neil Young is definitely an inspiration to all of us -- just his outlook on it, and how he can go from an album like Harvest to Tonight's The Night and cover those grounds.”

60 Watt Avenue may rock things up, but it doesn't leave Alaska's wild frontier behind. “Bar Scar”, its fiercest, most throttle-neck macho track (think black leather pants, long hair and sweat flying under stage lights), plays like a knife fight. “The song actually was inspired by a bar fight at one of our shows,” Phillips says, “so it's kind of an intense, really loud song, but the lyrics are actually kind of about a person that's in a difficult relationship that's pissed off at the person. I'm not gonna say if that's a true story or not.”

“High Tide” could be out of the Backsliders' catalog except for the almost Dylanesque phrasing in spots, but it's about a notorious bar in Seward, Alaska, that's an island of intense heat surrounded by about seven glaciers. The Pit Bar, a frequent host to the Whipsaws, stays open until 5 a.m., just until “all the troubles that they threw overboard came back with the high tide.”

The album's most compelling character study was inspired a little farther afield, when the band played Seattle on its first tour involving airfare. “Lonesome Joe”, which could almost be a Whiskeytown cover, is an inspiring story of an old biker and fisherman who's seen it all and remains standing. “That song means a lot to me because I wrote the whole song coming home from Seattle on the plane and it just totally worked,” Phillips says. “I felt like I really got what this guy was all about. To me it's a very heartfelt and poignant song.”

There is love on the record, but it's difficult, its object generally more enamored of altered states. A tender-hearted exception is one of two entries by drummer and guitarist James Dommek Jr., “Stick Around”, a Gram Parsons-inflected acoustic charmer.

Phillips acknowledges that the current turmoil in the music business doesn't favor the band's timing, but he's optimistic. “There are no other bands up here who work as hard and write as much original music,” he says. “I think that's something that sets our band apart. We work our asses off.”

-- LINDA RAY



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