First Look at Wilco (the album)
There has been some sweet album covers so far this year. Animal Collectives, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the upcoming Dinosaur Jr. cover is awwwwwesome, and now Wilco’s Wilco (the album), has been tossed into the bunch. I really never know what to expect from a Wilco album. After their slurring art rock twist of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot I can say I would have expected the overall mutil-directional noise rock of A Ghost Is Born tracks like At Least That’s What You Said, or Spiders (Kidsmoke.) I did not, however, think the Tweedster would combine his ‘ol Summer Teeth classic rock with a bundle ‘o feedback via Handshake Drugs or Wishful Thinking. After what felt like a Jeff Tweedy volcano was about to erupt he shaked it up with Sky Blue Sky, Wilco’s softest outing yet (and arguably their worst.)
So when a band like Wilco announces their next album will essentially encompass their entire fuckin’ name I’m naturally going to have some huge expectations (I mean this band wrote Jesus Etc. for chrissake!) Bull Black Nova is the first look I’ve gotten at Wilco (the album) and at first impressions it takes on a familiar Spiders-like staccato and guitar bite, but with a blues-ier, less pilled out melody. The Ghost Is Born Wilco is apparent here, but Tweedy sounds more put together, more ahead of himself, which can be viewed as good or bad (I personally love the Tweedster at his worse, minus the 15 minutes of Less Than You Think of course.)
Anyway, judge for yourself:
