Signing to Sub Pop and Up in It (1989–1990) Initially, Sub Pop planned for the Whigs to release only a one-off single, but that soon led to a full-blown record contract with the label.
"And then all of a sudden, I found out John was having covers made." While only a thousand copies of Big Top Halloween would be pressed initially, one of them managed to capture the attention of Jonathan Poneman, the co-founder of influential Seattle-based indie label Sub Pop, which signed Afghan Whigs in 1989. "We were running through what were basically the first songs I'd ever written in order to do some demos, so we were playing really loose," Dulli recalls.
In the wake of The Black Republicans' breakup, Dulli had decamped to Arizona, where he composed half the material for what would become Afghan Whigs' debut album Big Top Halloween (1988), self-released on the band's own Ultrasuede label. Dulli later described the intent behind The Afghan Whigs was to exist as "a cross between the Band, the Temptations, and Neil Young playing with Crazy Horse." McCollum and Dulli would bond over their shared love of R&B, in fact the first song The Afghan Whigs ever rehearsed was a cover of The Temptations' " Psychedelic Shack". Curley would introduce Dulli to McCollum, a frequent jam partner who was famed on the local Cincinnati scene for his innovative use of effects pedals. The Afghan Whigs had evolved out of Dulli's previous band, The Black Republicans, a band that Curley later joined. Greg Dulli (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar), John Curley (bass), and Steve Earle (drums) formed the band in Cincinnati late in 1986.
“Strange harmonic twists underlining powerful and emotive lyrics” - Tom Robinson, BBC6 Music