:lol: At first I thought this might be good. I can still make a case that "Boxful of Letters" is his best song. But this shit sucks. It sounds like George Jones if he were a suburban dad who was in the middle of transitioning.

Yeah, I'd put "Casino Queen" and "Shouldn't Be Ashamed" ahead. "Should've Been in Love" 4th, I guess.

I've always loved "New Madrid" the most from Uncle Tupelo.

:lol: At first I thought this might be good. I can still make a case that "Boxful of Letters" is his best song. But this shit sucks. It sounds like George Jones if he were a suburban dad who was in the middle of transitioning.

I feel like it certainly gets off the ground a lot more than Schmilco, Ode to Joy, or especially the solo project Welp Mom Has Cancer And That Sure Sucks, but it still doesn't get all the way there. I'm still eager for the rest of the album. I'll always have to give them a shot.

As the biggest Wilco mark on this board, suffice it to say that I am quite enthusiastic about this song and will be attending their Solid Sound Festival at the end of the month should any board members care to meet up.

The fact that they have a legion of devoted followers is impressive bc they're basically the equivalent of sliced white bread

The problem came with the Kotche/Cline version of the band where Tweedy's brilliance was obscured by noise for the sake of noise.

The run from A Ghost Is Born through The Whole Love is better than you're giving it credit for. I loved Sky Blue Sky, the album that gave the world "dad rock," from day one and still do. Certainly the lesser half, but still very, very good.


How often did that really happen, though? Star Wars and a few spots on The Whole Love? The problem with the Nels Cline iteration of Wilco, if anything, is too much pleasant noodling. Every song can't be "Impossible Germany." My issue has been that Tweedy seems to need someone he can't get along with in the room with him to write his best stuff. Maybe that wasn't a sustainable model. One of the people he couldn't get along with is dead.

They're certainly not my favorite band, but I think you're way underselling Tweedy's songwriting here. The incarnation of the band with Bennett was a pretty special thing. Summerteeth is just an absolute masterpiece.

The problem came with the Kotche/Cline version of the band where Tweedy's brilliance was obscured by noise for the sake of noise. That's one thing when the songwriter in question is as common as someone like Thurston Moore. Then by all means make some weird and possibly interesting noises because the songs aren't very strong in the first place. But wreaking destruction on Tweedy's pop creations is like letting Jackson Pollock use the Mona Lisa as a canvass. It's criminal despite the fountains of jizz spurting from the cocks of critics over Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Summerteeth is just an absolute masterpiece.

The run from A Ghost Is Born through The Whole Love is better than you're giving it credit for. I loved Sky Blue Sky, the album that gave the world "dad rock," from day one and still do. Certainly the lesser half, but still very, very good.

oh yeah, AGIB is definitely an oversight. The Jim O'Rourke Wilco album. O'Rourke playing the role of Jay Bennett for that album elevates it above subsequent Wilco output. Always felt like the coda to Jay Bennett Wilco. Mostly songs that had been bouncing around during the Bennett era given final form by O'Rourke.

The Whole Love and Sky Blue Sky are both better than AGIB; both contain top-3 Wilco songs.

"One Sunday Morning," "Impossible Germany"?

Funny how that works. You'd think better players/musicians automatically elevates the songs/band.

But I recall a conversation about the White Stripes with a drummer/producer who played in post-rock/math rock type bands around Chicago--unique time signature stuff requiring precise, accurate playing. I bemoaned that Meg White was a crap drummer; which by any standard Meg wasn't much of musician or drummer. But this guy who himself valued musicianship but still enjoyed the White Stripes music said that giving Jack White a competent drummer would kill the vibe and feeling of the White Stripes music. The White Stripes worked in part because of Meg's charmingly defective drumming.

That's what I'd go with.