If David Dennis ever recommends an album to you take that she-it as gospel. David is responsible for my cd collection containing classics such as Galaxie 500’s “On Fire,†The Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots†and now this gem. I can’t really say that this one is as good as “On Fire†or “Yoshimi†but that is by no means any kind of indictment against it. “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot†(an allusion to an old short-wave radio code) is a fine album that is Wilco’s most mature and complex offering to date.
This is not your father’s Wilco. Granted, I’m no expert on the early days of Wilco or its foundation in Uncle Tupelo, but when I think alt-country, I think catchy, jangly tunes that sometimes catch my fancy and sometimes do not. Stereotyping this album with such a label would be unfair. These tunes are a lot more sophisticated. I’ll stop short of calling it a concept album, but a certain indescribable tone is present throughout. I’m inclined to say that the album is in some ways a sad ode to America and its current state, but I think it would be a disservice to paint with a broad stroke in trying to categorize any aspect of this release.
Don’t get me wrong, as the album has its share of catchy tunes that are easy to sing along with and get pleasantly stuck in the back of one’s mind. Only one of them might be a little over the top in terms of overdoing it on the pop scale, but even that song (“Heavy Metal Drummerâ€Â) is saved by amusing lyrics about getting stoned and playing Kiss covers. Perhaps this song points to more idealistic, innocent times. Most of the other offerings that would fall into the “catchy†category appear on the first half of the album. “Kamera,†“War on War†and “Jesus, etc.†all take hold with simple chords and an easy to handle lyrical structure more typical of early Wilco, but with a more cohesive and polished feel.
While all these are worthwhile offerings, the true genius of this album lies in the other more complex tracks. Much of the album is defined by truly unique offerings such as the opening track, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,†the final three tracks, and what is perhaps the signature track of the album, “Ashes of American Flags.†These songs are unlike anything in my collection. Most of them start as slow anthems to concepts that I cannot pinpoint, but they convey a similar tone. The songs evolve into a cacophony of noises and a lot of distortion that somehow amplifies the tone of the album in ways that I cannot hope to musically comprehend. I get the feeling that this album is the successful culmination of a lot of ideas for Jeff Tweedy and Wilco.
That’s not to say that there is a disconnect between the songs I’m labeling as “catchy†and the second grouping. This album flows well and is a good listen from start to finish. In fact, no one song stands out enough to justify using the skip button and I almost always find myself listening to it from start to finish. To paraphrase Shrek, this album is like an onion, donkey, it has layers. It’s pleasant the first time it is played, but on each subsequent listen it seems to build new meanings and the distorted endings to some of the more complex tracks in particular, become engrained in ways that make me realize why David Dennis would like group it with the Flaming Lips and Galaxie 500 albums. Much like The Feelies “Crazy Rhythms,†I have a feeling I’ll keep coming back to this one and enjoying it and discovering it in new ways for years to come.
Note: if anyone feels adventurous the last remaining cd on David’s list of recommendations is “Sophomore Slump†by Epperly. Right now I think I’ve shot my wad on recent additions to my collection and I’ll probably take a break for a while and enjoy the handful of new albums I’ve acquired in the last month or so.
A couple more quick things I thought I’d note. The start to “Jesus, etc.” could easily be a Camper van Beethoven song, complete with violin. Also, the intro to “Pot Kettle Black” sounds exactly like The Cure’s “In Between Days” to me.
In the original review, I also meant to note how the fact that album opens with the line “I am an American aquarium drinker” pretty much sets the tone for the album. You’re not dealing with the ordinary here. I like the line a lot, and I can’t explain why. I could say the same about a lot of other aspects of the album.
This is actually Greg’s comment from an e-mail discussion we were having, but I thought it was blog worthy and applicable:
Something about this album that strikes me is that the songs are remarkably lyrical. That is, they actually have a tune in almost all cases. Often, the tune is realized by crazy ass instruments that sound like trash cans being banged or various assorted feedback or whatever. But they definitely have a tune. That’s more than can be said for many modern musicians that we like. Not that the others lack talent, but it’s almost out of style to actually have a recognizable melody to your songs.
My infatuation with this album continues to grow and some independent research has yielded these two worthwhile articles.
This quick YHF review whets the appetite. Of particular interest to me are the parallels between YHF and Radiohead’s “Kid A.” I have Radiohead’s first three albums and in spite of the fact that I like them all, particularly “The Bends,” I sorta just stopped keeping track of them. But I could definitely see Radiohead coming up with something along these lines in terms of weird noises and baffling yet genius song construction that pushes the envelope in terms of music.
This long one from Pop Matters sheds a lot of light on the motifs of the album as well as a history of the band, and leads me to believe we should spend some time checking out Wilco’s site to see what they have to offer.