"Whoa! Wilco just dropped a new album out of the blue!"
"Dude, no way?! What's it called?"
"....Um. Star Wars?"
"What?"
"Yeah. And there's like... a cat."
This is the conversation every Wilco fan had on July 16th when the ninth studio album by Chicago indie rockers, Wilco, appeared on the Internet like a gift from the Indie Gods.
Almost as powerful as the bewilderment at the album art and title was the appeal of curiosity to check it out, since, after all, the album was released absolutely and 100% for free. Something about curiosity and cats.
The band stated that they "consider themselves lucky to be in the position to give you this music free of charge, but we do so knowing not every band, label, or studio can do the same." This comes as a stark contrast to certain other artists, in much better financial positions than Wilco, complaining about not getting enough money from music sales. Now, it's a subject for another day whether this is justified, whether Tidal is the more moral answer to music streaming than Spotify or whether your average, teenage, local opener acts should have as much say in getting paid for their music as Jay-Z. Star Wars is just an interesting event in the ongoing discussion. In addition to their recommending smaller name bands to check out and endorse, I think Star Wars served to awaken more fans to participate in the discussion.
Anyways, let's talk about the album! This album sounds exactly like you think it would sound, given its album art, title, and back story. It's loose, short, quirky, and fuzzy, with a definite DIY feel. And those adjectives are basically embodied in opening track "EKG," which acts as a weird little thesis statement for the album: Wilco is just enjoying themselves and letting us join in.
The album follows this feeling that we're partaking in a 33 minute jam session, and if there's any objective evidence needed that Wilco are a great band, it's that even when they're letting go and jamming like this, great music and memorable grooves seem to just arise spontaneously. Take "You Satellite," which could very well simply be an exercise in playing in 5/8 time. Not only does the band sync together like this complex time signature is as natural as breathing, but the increasing layers of sound on the song seem to organize themselves into a satisfying climax. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, they work magic on "Random Name Generator" by turning such a simple, fuzzed-out riff into one of the most enjoyable rock songs of the year.
These moments of brilliance aren't to be found everywhere on the album, though. The places where Star Wars falls flat is where the tracks fade into the fuzz and the simplistic instrumentation and riffs never coalesce into anything memorable. Listen to "Cold Slope" four times then try to hum it to me. I couldn't do it. Same with "Where Do I Begin." These songs aren't bad, per se, but... no one will remember them five years from now.
Add to it the fact Wilco made a name for themselves in crafting not just solid, respectable indie rock, but by experimenting in an artful and accessible way. Certainly they do that on this album, though in a significantly more sparse and lo-fi way, but not anywhere enough to make this one of their best albums. That being said, I'm certain that Wilco were not setting out to write their best album; I think they were just having fun making music, and the most impressive and enjoyable thing about this album is that they make it fun for all of us, too.
| OVERALL SCORE: 7.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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