So on the surface, Wilco (the album) feels like this band's grab for the big, brass ring. It is neither the quieter, return to basic songcraft that (Cline's incendiary playing on that album aside) Sky Blue Sky felt like, nor the more ambitious experimental sounding record that was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Rather, it is both. Wilco (the album) in fact, kind of falls into the category of all of the above for this band.
First and foremost, the songs are great.
"Wilco (the song)" kicks things off with a tongue-in-cheek sort of vibe that reminds you immediately that as good as these guys may know they really are, they are not so good as to actually take themselves too seriously. Here, they go so far as to remind the listener that "this is a fact you need to know/Wilco will love you baby."
The track that most previews of this album have raved about though is "Bull Black Nova," and for good reason. Musically, "Nova" is kind of like the kid brother to the band's earlier "Spiders (Kidsmoke)." It mines the same path of Kraftwerk-ian metronomic synths, mixed with blasting, chaotic guitar courtesy of Cline.
Meanwhile the lyrics are something else, as they seem to describe transporting a dead body in a "Bull Black Chevy Nova." The effect is an unnerving one as Tweedy describes the "blood in the sink, blood in the trunk" and, with voice rising all the while in intensity, how "I'm sorry as the setting sun."
As great as "Bull Black Nova" is, though, the standout track on Wilco (the album) is "You Never Know." This is the sort of song that would be the biggest hit single of the summer, if only Top 40 radio still had room on their playlists for great power pop songs in the seventies-rock mold of the Raspberries or Badfinger.
"You Never Know" has everything a great pop song should have. Tweedy's vocal starts out like something straight out of "Bang A Gong" era Marc Bolan, and winds up with gorgeous harmonies straight out of Traveling Wilburys territory in the chorus. Speaking of the Wilburys, Nels Cline pays rather obvious homage to George Harrison here with just about the shortest, sweetest to the point guitar break this side of "My Sweet Lord."
Article comments
1 - PIco
Well done, Glen. This album is terrific pop-rock, and Wilco has seemed to have settled into a really nice groove of late.
2 - Triniman
Nicely done, Glen.
I got into them around the same time you did, and have seen them three glorious times. I have the new album in my car player and look forward to playing it over and over. Also, watch the DVD I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. You'll see the recently deceased Jay Bennett (RIP) as well as the band facing setbacks that could have finished them off.