“Wilco will love you, baby,” claims Jeff Tweedy on the opening
track, “Wilco (the song).” But know the band will love you in the way
it wants. Mainly, this means Tweedy maintains his character as
collapsed-man. Even when the lyrics (printed on the liner) add up to
what seems like optimism, the delivery is still sad-sack. Tweedy’s
sleepy sensibility brings the band down to a fatigued pace too often to
make this more than an OK album. When the songs wake up (“Bull Black
Nova,” “You Never Know,” “I’ll Fight” and “Sonny Feeling”), you’re
reminded of Summerteeth, the album from 10 years ago when Wilco
was becoming dreamlike and weird.
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2009.