The Afghan Whigs

The most sinister song Stevie Wonder never wrote, the Black Love single "Going to Town," launches with an amazing "Superstition"-inspired intro and gets better from there -- the lyrics are among Greg Dulli's most vivid and hard-boiled, depicting a Bonnie & Clyde-like romance that culminates with the remarkable couplet "When you say 'Now we got Hell to pay'/Don't worry, baby, that's OK -- I know the boss." From there, this U.K. single doesn't just shift gears, it grinds them -- covers of the Ella Fitzgerald perennial "You've Changed," Harold Chichester's "I Want to Go to Sleep," and Henry Mancini's "Moon River" capture the Whigs at their most atmospheric and Dulli at his most nakedly emotional, proving the man a superior torch singer as well. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide