Review: Wilco - The Whole Love

Wilco is a band that requires no introduction. If you don't know about Wilco, then I don't know where you've been the last ten years. Catch up here. All caught up? Good. Proceed to the next paragraph.

On September 27, Wilco will be releasing their newest album, The Whole Love. TWL is classic Wilco: well-written indie pop, infused with alt-country, punk, and experimentation. TWL spans the typical Wilco palette of soothing, heart-felt songs to full-on rockers, but the album doesn't come off as a tired repeat of their back catalog.

The record opens with "Art of Almost," a pseudo-electronic, mid-tempo groove, which devolves into some heavy guitar work from Nels Cline, resulting in a delightfully mind-melting extended solo. It is sparse and vast at times, allowing many varying textures to enter and leave without cluttering the soundscape. The song seems like a departure from the typical Wilco formula, and with its placement as the first track, I was wondering if we were about to witness a very different Wilco album. The next song "I Might," which is also the first single issued from this album, contrasts the opener nicely while also reassuring the listener that this is the Wilco you know well. Take that as you will.

"I Might" is easily the most poppy and accessible tune on the record (makes you wonder why they made it the single...) and follows along where Wilco (The Album) left off, reminiscent of songs like "Sonny Feeling" and "Wilco (The Song)." From this point, The Whole Love can be easily divided into two categories: the slow tunes and the uptempo, country-pop rockers. The record, with a few exceptions, alternates between these two types for the remainder of the album. In both cases, the songs feel like an extension of Wilco (The Album).

The slower songs are all brilliantly crafted and garner more appreciation with each listen. Like all Wilco albums, the production features many subtle gestures that are not immediately recognized. "Black Moon" perhaps does this best with the outstanding ebb and flow of the string section. Tremolo'd violins punctuate the verses while massive cellos give the chorus a very deep and meaty sound, providing a dynamic climax. The other slow tunes "Sunloathe," "Open Mind," and "Rising Red Lung" are all quality songs but do not stand out in the same way as "Black Moon." However, they feel like songs that will grow better with each listen. There's no way I can know that for sure yet, but Wilco has a good track record with this sort of thing.

The other half is populated by what I'll call "The Wilco Pop Song," i.e., that combination of alt-country-Americana, rock, and catchy choruses that has brought them so much acclaim and popularity. Again, this is Wilco perpetuating their classic sound and not expanding to a great degree. The title track, "Dawned on Me," "Born Alone," "Capitol City," "Standing O," and "Whole Love" all utilize "The Wilco Pop Song" formula very well--"Born Alone" and "Standing O" being the best of the bunch. The two songs are just solid rock songs. During one my listens, I stopped taking notes and gave such a thorough and inspired air-drumming performance of "Born Alone" that I flooded the cap of one of my nicer pens.

The curious thing about this song, however, is its spot on the album. It is such a quality song and its placement right in the middle helps propel the album forward, though "Open Mind" seems to take all that steam right back. I'm not one to typically criticize track order, as it is a very difficult portion of putting together a record, and with so many possible options available I don't believe any critic is in a good position to question it. But the persistent alternations of up-tempo and down-tempo songs on this album detracts a bit from it, I believe, and nowhere more so than from "Born Alone" to "Open Mind." This especially is the case with the tracks' placement in the vinyl format. The album is on two LPs, that is four sides in total. The end of side two is "Born Alone" into "Open Mind." It seems to me that "Born Alone" is such a perfect way to end a side, and with the resurgence of vinyl, that fact does not seem trivial to me. But I digress...

Amidst these up-tempo numbers lies the album's low point, "Capitol City." While it's not a terrible song, I don't feel it adds to the record. Jeff Tweedy can write some cheesy songs at times, but in this case I find it overly kitschy, and on an album jam-packed with good songs, I'm not sure why this one made the cut.

Undeniably the best parts of this record are the opener and the closer. "Art of Almost" is a fantastic departure from the Wilco formula and shows that Tweedy still has some tricks up his sleeve, and "One Sunday Morning" is just a masterful song. It is twelve minutes long, but it hardly feels like it. One of the criteria I've maintained for what makes a great song is when it can breach the seven minute mark, and the listener is oblivious to it. That was the case with me for this song. When I found the track listing for this album on Wikipedia after one or two listens, I was amazed to see that this song surpasses twelve minutes. "One Sunday Morning" attains its length without any major tangents and without boring the listener (at least not this one). The song reminds me of an epic Bob Dylan song, where great track length is achieved by telling a story over the same music. But in this case I have no idea what Jeff Tweedy is singing about, and I don't really care. The song is just incredibly peaceful and soothing. I'm only along for the smooth ride.

TWL is not a big departure from their previous work, but rather feels like a fitting next step, a derivation. Its moments of adventure are tempered with safe territory. One must wonder if we'll ever see another release like A Ghost Is Born, where Wilco truly trod new territory with beautiful experimentation and straight-to-the-bone, deep songwriting. Nonetheless The Whole Love is an incredibly enjoyable album. Jeff Tweedy can always be counted on to write good songs, and the band has the talent to provide those songs with the quality music the songs deserve. As always Nels Cline delivers some great guitar work, though he's really only given free reign on "Art of Almost."

Links: Pre-order

Cheers,

The Flying Dutchman.

Review: Banana Phonetic - The Facts of Evolution

A little over one year ago, my old band, Admiral Rakes, played at a show at the now-defunct Harper's Ferry. My friend and bass player in said group, Brendan McGrath, got a band he knew to open for us. The name of this group was Banana Phonetic. Fairly quickly into their set it became very clear to me that these guys should not be opening for us but the other way around. They were tight, energetic, and fun and had killer songs.

Last year they released the indie-pop gem, Western End EP, and have followed that up this year with another EP, The Facts of Evolution. The EP utilizes the same formula as their first: catchy, mellow pop tunes with pleasing jammy offshoots. That is not to say that Banana Phonetic are repeating themselves; this EP has a feel all its own. For only five songs it has surprising depth--from the rocking "Anna Lee" to the subtle and sensitive "Manipulated Sun."

Two songs in particular jumped out at me from the first listen and each time thereafter: the title track and "Manipulated Sun." "The Facts of Evolution" catches your ear immediately with its country beat, johnny greenwood-esgue guitar tone, and semi-falsetto verse. Though, as the title suggests, this song really evolves. The jangly verses give way to two quick break-downs with pounding, low-end piano that add sudden darkness to the track before propelling the song back to the sunny sound of the opening. After the second break-down, a catchy and major-blues guitar solo leads the listener right back to a sunny verse. But after this third verse the song comes into its own. A break-down follows the verse as before but propels the song into an insanely hooky refrain, repeating "You turn a long time into a little while." The tempo is cut in half and the key changes to the relative minor, and you're in a completely new place. You're not sure how you got here, but you like it.

"Manipulated Sun" has the same pop sensibility as rest of the record but without the layered guitars and jammy outros. The song contrasts stripped-down verses that feature just an acoustic guitar, voice, a slide guitar caked in reverb, and very subtle drumming with massive choruses that feel like a cathartic release to pent up tension from the pre-choruses. Whether the lyrics back that up, I have no idea, I must admit. The vocals convey great emotion that really drive the track and make it stand out. The chorus repeats, "Happiness is just a state of mind" and is delivered with complexity, leaving the listener wondering whether this is a grand realization or a hopeless attempt at persuasion. Either way the refrain hits home.

Overall this record is good. It's catchy, it's entertaining, it's got great riffs and memorable melodies. It does, however, lack the same cohesion as Western End. I don't want to put that down as a negative though. This EP displays diversity, breadth and quality songwriting.

Below you'll find the embed from Bandcamp for the EP. You can stream the whole thing, but if you enjoy it I encourage you to purchase it and help support these independent, unsigned artists who have a lot of potential.