The Whigs

In 2002, three University of Georgia students—Parker Gispert on vocals and guitar, Julian Dorio on drums, and Hank Sullivant on bass—launched the Whigs while living in Athens. Their early sound blended Westerberg-like swagger, alt-rock structures, and a warm country undercurrent, leading them from campus gigs to opening slots for the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and the Futureheads. Several years afterward they tracked their first album, Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip, inside an unoccupied fraternity house and issued it independently in 2005. Momentum built quickly enough that Rolling Stone named the trio one of its “10 Artists to Watch” the next year. After graduation that spring, ATO Records added the band to its roster.

ATO reissued Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip later in 2005. Sullivant soon departed to focus on his solo project Kuroma, which he later paused to play in MGMT’s touring band; Tim Deaux took his place. With the new lineup the Whigs headed to Los Angeles in 2007 to cut their second record, finishing it by October. Mission Control arrived in January 2008, promoted through late-night television spots and co-headlining dates with the Drive-By Truckers, the Kooks, and Kings of Leon. Another run of shows with Kings of Leon followed in early 2009 while the band stockpiled material for album number three. Working again in Athens, this time with producer Ben Allen—fresh from Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion—the group finished In the Dark by the end of 2009 and released it the following March.

Extensive touring in support of In the Dark stretched into 2011, after which the Whigs began their first project for New West Records. Enjoy the Company appeared in fall 2012, followed by Modern Creation two years later. In 2016 the band issued Live in Little Five, available solely on vinyl and as a digital download.