The Whigs: Enjoy the Company

OVER THE SPAN of 10 years and four albums, The Whigs have simmered their energetic, overdriven, no-frills rock sound to its potent essence. It's been a low-and-slow process made possible by their road-dogged work ethic and keen focus, but even a band with such simple purity of vision can get lost in the whirlwind cycle of touring and making records. So instead of cutting their latest at home in Athens (as they did with 2010's In the Dark), trying in vain to resist the siren song of girlfriends, good-time buddies and the 70-plus watering holes crammed into their city's tiny five-block downtown, The Whigs decided to pack up and head for more subdued environs.