CD Review

Poor Jeff Tweedy. The Wilco principal can’t help it if his poignant lyrical intimacy has recently garnered him as, “one of the best songwriters of his generation.” Along side his cult following and prickly deity status, it’s no wonder Tweedy has become uncontrollably neurotic, eventually leading to his recent stint in painkiller rehab.

Aside from the high profile timeout - which received as much press as any of Wilco’s six albums - the band is continually progressing with tentative momentum. As the Chicago band is leading the charge from cult favorite to household name, abrupt changes seem to re-occur in the most unlikely of spots: band member changes, record label issues, alongside an upcoming book and noticeable mainstream press. Although this buzz is years overdue or perhaps a premonition to an abrupt headlong, nobody knows for sure, expect Tweedy….or maybe even he doesn’t know.

After rising from the broken ashes of Uncle Tupelo in 1994, only Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt remain from the band’s debut record, A.M. Triumphantly, Wilco has made the rare artistic statement in which each of their albums summates a distinctive sound. From the alt/country shakers of A.M., to the ambitious versatility of Being There, the 70’s rock radio of Summer Teeth and the sonic psychedelic textures in 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – each album digs a solid foothold in the band’s creative lifeline. Then comes along A Ghost Is Born, an album that valiantly attempts to up the ante.

Rather than focusing on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’s individual stylistic concepts, A Ghost Is Born focuses more on creating results as a band. By allowing sonic efforts to shine, Tweedy’s revealing lyrics are shone in a new light, as the listener stumbles across a fresh window to peer into the band’s imagination.

The album begins with its strongest number, “At Least That What’s You Said,” slowly building from a calm piano intro, later dropping towards an anxiety ridden hammer of guitars and drums; an ironic twist to the bandleader’s frequent panic attacks. Tweedy proves his well worn vocals still can convert the most hit or miss words into a poetic phrase, as he sings nonchalantly, “Oh, I was chewin’ gum for something to do” on the clever “Handshake Drugs.” In the Beatles-esque “WishfulThinking,” Tweedy summons in true McCartney fashion “Cause what would love be without wishful thinking." Nothing ground-breaking here, but it works.

Yet the band continues to push their sound most noticeably in the ten minute plus, “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” that’s built around a digital techno beat, before unleashing into pure power chord fury . Along with the sixteen-minute “Less Than You Think,” which meanders deep into spacey experimentalism, these brave turns will inevitably gain new fans. However these same compositions may alienate a certain subset of the band’s roots rock foundation.

But the more familiar song structures show up in “The Late Greats,” a pop song kicking the state of radio programming and the courageous artists nobody ever hears about. "Hummingbird" featuring lush string parts that sounds Summer Teeth era, while the aforementioned "Handshake Drugs" features a sunny beat over its beatnik charm. "Thelogicans" and “Hell Is Chrome” lead in with muscular piano leads that purvey a sense of simplistic singer-songwriter grandeur.

Still, what’s most compelling about A Ghost Is Born is how patiently the songs play out their own course rather than through traditional verse-chorus-verse structures. With a majority of the songs surpassing four minutes, prime opportunities evolve for the band as a whole to add complementary parts: including drummer Glen Kotche, newcomer Mikael Jorgensen and recently jolted Leroy Bach. A Ghost Is Born, is rewarding in the same context as its sonic predecessor – offering something entirely new to discover with every listen. But with all the fanfare and hype surrounding A Ghost Is Born– Wilco surely won’t become the next “Late Great.”