Wilco
Oh, no - Jeff Tweedy is sober and happy! This almost assuredly spells the end of Wilco. How many rock band do you know who really hit their stride during periods of calm and happiness, singing songs of domestic bliss?
Now, of course, as a fellow human being, I wish Jeff Tweedy the best. I'm glad that he's kicked his habit and is enjoying time with his wife and children. But, let's be realistic. Jeff Tweedy isn't my friend or something. My main (read: only) interaction with him is through his music. And so my primary concern is that he continues to produce high-quality music for people like me to listen to. And, frankly, I don't think his current lifestyle choices are conducive to that goal (though I hope to be proved wrong).
Half kidding aside, the most worrying part of the article is where he says that he's not so interested in playing short rock songs anymore - he'd rather play extended jam songs like "Spiders (Kidsmoke)." Um ... Jeff, I'd really rather that you didn't. The short, tight rock songs are a big part of Wilco, especially live. I'd take "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" over any song on A Ghost Is Born, anytime - one of the most cathartic experiences one can have is shouting "Okay alright! Okay alright!" along with an entire theater of fellow concert-goers. Please don't deny us that pleasure in favor of a 12-minute version of "Spiders." You're not Phish, Jeff - try to remember on which side your bread is buttered.
5 comments:
You're totally dead on with all of that, especially the jam shit - that's what basically ruined "A Ghost Is Born". I'm just hoping that he's just saying stuff like that because he's still thinking about the last album, but then they'll go and do something completly different again. The only thing that saved AGIB at all were some of the short songs, if they start only doing 10 minute songs, I might have lost another of my favorite bands. Sigh.
Well, I don't completely hate jamming, but it seemed excessive on A Ghost Is Born. Excessive, and not very interesting. It's one thing to have a cool 5 minute guitar solo. It's another to have a dull, repetitive 5 minute guitar solo. I think At Least That's What You Said pulled it off well, but Hell is Chrome and Spiders (Kidsmoke) are just basically mediocre jams with tacked-on lyrics (the Devil is chrome? wtf?).
Also, the 12 minutes of droning on Less Than You Think was unforgivable. I know it's supposed to symbolize Tweedy's migraines, but what's the point of subjecting your listeners to something painful?
He's even been quoted as saying that he knew that 95% of Wilco fans wouldn't like the jamming, and he didn't care. I mean, I'm all for artists doing what they want, but if you know it's going to be THAT unpopular, save it for a side project or something.
Yeah, there's no point in deliberately pissing off your fans, especially given how the fans stuck with Wilco during their time in the no-label wilderness.
Again, though, I wouldn't mind the jamming so much if there were good songs underlying it. But the jammy songs just sound tossed together. In that way, it's completely the opposite of the "noisy" songs on YHF. Those were good songs where the addition of weird effects and noise added to the song, whereas the jams tend to detract from already weak songs.
A jam ONCE in a while is ok. But I can't imagine it ever making any song better. Like, I love, say, "I'm Always In Love", but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like a 10 minute jam version of it. There's a reason I'm not a Grateful Dead fan.
When it comes down to it, I basically like poppy music (with vocals). There are exceptions, sure, but not many. And if that's the direction the band moves in, I might have to reconsider my investment in them (not that it's happened yet - on the contrary, I still plan to spend $20 to buy the import AGIB, so I guess that makes me the sucker. But is has "Kicking Television"! I love that song).
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