GradeL A-
There seems to be a trend in the alt.country community of taking forever and a day to release great albums.
Last summer's standout work - Whiskeytown's "Pneumonia" - was referred to by the band's frontman, Ryan Adams, both as his band's "Sgt. Pepper's" and "it's never gonna f***ing come out" after repeated delays.
This summer, it's Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot."
After being called "commercial arsenic" and being dropped by the band's label, Reprise, last summer, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was finally picked up and released a year later by Nonesuch Records, and it is worth the wait.
A sprawling landscape of fuzz and piano fading in and out against sparse acoustic guitars," the album is a lazy jog through regret and renewal. Lead singer Jeff Tweedy's clever vocals guide the listener through the most developed portrait of Midwestern ennui yet experienced.
"Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" is made up mostly of Wilco's sonic meanderings, a sort of alt.country Radiohead. But the real highlights show up when Tweedy and company take it up a notch.
"Heavy Metal Drummer" is a nostalgic look at youth. Upbeat, one can't help but smile when Tweedy croons, "I miss the innocence I've known, playing Kiss covers, beautiful and stoned."
The band achieves haunting poignancy with the pair of "Jesus, etc." and "Ashes of American Flags," despite the album being penned pre-Sept. 11. On "Jesus, etc." Tweedy sings "Tall buildings shake, voices escape singing sad, sad songs." That, coupled with an ominous picture of twin, grey towers on the cover, make Wilco seem near-prophetic.
"Ashes of American Flags" is the best of the slow songs. Haunting strings swell in and out with simple electric guitar lines as Tweedy sings "All my lies are always wishes." An eloquent look at the desperation of modern life, Tweedy delivers a message of shaded optimism in nihilistic times.
"Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" is, as Reprise said, commercial arsenic. But only a certain kind of commercial. No one expects to see Wilco sitting next to Shakira in anyone's CD collection, but it will fit nicely beside copies of Ryan Adam's "Gold," The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" and The Rolling Stones' "Beggar's Banquet." And it might just make sure those CDs get fewer spins while Wilco plays.
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