“Workmanlike” is a funny word. It can mean dependable, efficient, no-nonsense, consistent in quality. Given that work's the curse of the creative class, though, it can also mean boring, riffs-by-numbers, conventional, complacent. Atlana's Whores are definitely a “workmanlike” band, one that doesn't have a lot of fat and keeps things brief. So which definition do they fall under? Mostly the first—their latest album, Clean, is a set of songs influenced by AmRep, Pissed Jeans, and the Melvins. But it probably won't convert a lot of people over to noise rock: it's a standard noise rock record for people who already love the stuff.
Like their contemporaries in KEN Mode, Whores are not afraid of low end. The bass, for instance, is the driving element of opener “Baby Bird”. That surprisingly hummable song was one of the tracks first released on the groups's Bandcamp page before the album came out—it's easy to see why. Even though he doesn't appear for 13 seconds, when bassist Jake Schultz comes, it feels like that's when the song actually starts. The bass also carries vocalist and guitarist Christian Lembach's verses of aspiring to be an urban threat. It's street-level creepiness that's part of noise rock's stark contrast to metal's tendencies towards fantasy and the esoteric. Another track, “Last Looks”, is defined by a bouncy, spidery bassline that also serves as the blood of the song. Schultz falls back on the rest of the album, and while those songs are not bad by any stretch, Whores are at their strongest when he takes the wheel.
“I Am Not a Goal Oriented Person” has strong Helmet overtones, with its crunchy main riff that, despite being on a record released in 2013, still sounds like it was too early to make an impact on hard rock radio. (Page Hamilton would be wise to have Whores write songs for him.) And while “I Am An Amateur At Everything” threatens to be just another stoner rock song, its verse riff has that nervous start-stop action that gives the song some extra energy.
So then, why is Clean a serviceable, not especially amazing record? Let's take a look at a few of the influences mentioned earlier. Pissed Jeans puts their humor front and center without being a “comedy rock” band. Whores could benefit for putting their perspective a little higher in the mix. Nobody can really be the Melvins—we're still figuring out how much of their success is persistence, and how much of it is that Buzz Osbourne and Dale Crover are freaks of nature who were meant for each other. KEN mode, perhaps the band whose shadow Whores live under the most, have that hunger and a willingness to tour (a lot) and endless ambition.
Honestly, the matches on Clean's cover should be used to light a fire under someone's ass, because while this is a decent enough record, and Whores can clearly give a tune some life, they need a little more ambition to breathe life into this material. It doesn't push or expand the genre, and it doesn't feel like that's the point: it, more or less, feels like they wanted something to put on their merch table, and an excuse to ditch town for a week, and Clean is serving that purpose. Not the worst thing in the world, but also not the most inspired.
