Wilco (the album [the review]) plus a war with Radiohead

Another volley is launched in the war between Radiohead and Wilco for who will rule my headspace of music. In one corner you have the British darlings of alternative rock, the 'head. With seven albums to their name, and only a few duds, these are the guys to beat. Can the scrappy American group led by Jeff Tweedy bring them down? We'll see.

Wilco (the album) is the seventh from this group and we can finally do a side by side comparison (if we don't count the Mermaid Avenue stuff).

A.M. (Wilco) vs. Pablo Honey (Radiohead). Both came out of the gate a little unsure of their sound. Tweedy used Wilco to explore the country rock he popularized with Jay Farrar in Uncle Tupelo. Unfortunately, most of the ideas lacked kick and where, frankly, half-baked. Radiohead cashed in on the surge in popularity for alternative rock with their hit song "Creep." Although the band was all set from this first album, they leaned heavily on crunchy guitars and screamed lyrics. There was little of the musical inventiveness that would mark their later work. Advantage: Radiohead, but only by a little.

Being There vs. The Bends. Here we see two bands come into their own. Tweedy had recruited his secret weapon, Jay Bennett, and made some line-up changes. Their second album was still rooted in country sounds but you could see the yearning to explore in tracks like Outtamind (Outtasite) and Sunken Treasure. Thom Yorke and his crew dug deep and moved guitar rock forward towards the millenium by perfecting the recipe of Pablo Honey while adding depth, maturity and experimentation to their songwriting. If you picked only the best tracks from Being There, it might have a shot against The Bends but it is over long and suffers from a lack of editing. The Bends also features "Just" one of my favorite tracks of all time so I give this one to Radiohead as well.

Summerteeth vs. OK Computer. Here is where I will lose 90% of my readers. OK Computer has been fellated and jizzed over as the greatest album of the 1990s ever since it came out. Yes, Radiohead pushed things forward into really cool places (with Johnny Greenwood really showing out by making guitars make noises I've never heard before). Multiple movements in songs and a pervasive dark atmosphere made this one tight and cohesive. Unfortunately, Climbing Up the Walls is on here and I despise that song. I know others who hate Electioneering (although I think it is a good nod to classic Radiohead rockers). There are some great b-sides to go with this album but I can't enjoy it all the way through like I do the Bends or Kid A. Summerteeth, on the other hand, was the sound of Tweedy letting Bennet go wild. The songs shimmer with energy and happiness but the lyrics are tortured and depressing. The juxtaposition of sound to content was novel to me at the time and I love all 14 or so tracks on this CD. I have to give Wilco this one.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot vs. Kid A. Another really tough match up. YHF is regarded as Wilco's OK Computer, where the Bennett/Tweedy dynamic found the edge of insanity and then pushed past it. Songs are filled with weirdness and jagged rhythmic changes but they still have hooks, somehow. YHF is an eye-opener of what American music is capable of. Bad news for Wilco, then, that Radiohead showed the world what they are capable of. Kid A takes all the lashing out and weirdness of OK Computer and subverts the angry guitars into raging horn sections, bizarre drum tracks and...well, angry guitars. This album is a perfect little unit from start to finish and I would rather take a blow to the head than try to choose between my appreciation for the execution of this album and my emotional attachment to Summerteeth. Radiohead win this round.

A Ghost is Born vs. Amnesiac. Tweedy jettisons Bennett and manages to recover pretty well. The whole thing doesn't flow very well with two monolithic beasts to overcome (Kidsmoke and Less Than You Think). However, I think there are tracks on here that stand with anything off of Summerteeth or YHF. Radiohead had recorded so much for Kid A that Amnesiac became a kind of leftover platter for sampling where their heads were. This is probably my least revisited Radiohead album (even though, live, the songs work very well). There are too many experiments that go nowhere (Hunting Bears) or just plain don't work (running I Will backwards as the track for Like Spinning Plates). There is a good album to be found in Amnesiac, but Radiohead didn't take the time to find it. Advantage: Wilco.

Sky Blue Sky vs. Hail to the Thief. I don't know what happened to my boys here. Radiohead was so angry about George Bush that they made a really scattershot album. There are moments of greatness (like Go to Sleep, or 2+2=5) that recall the glories of earlier, more rocking times. But there is still the hangover of Amnesiac permeating the album and leading it down to many dead ends. Likewise, Tweedy added Nils Cline to the group and, I guess, exchanged the guitar player for his balls. There is nothing remotely dangerous or experimental about SBS. It is a very mellow album that lulls one to sleep and tries not to offend anyone's sensibility. After the glorious "fuck you" that Kidsmoke was on the last album, I could not imagine a more neutered sound. Tweedy had finally gotten off drugs but, at what cost to his music. Declaring someone the winner here would be like declaring a winner between a retarded mongoose and a dead cobra. Draw.

Wilco (the album) vs. In Rainbows. Both of these albums give me hope in two very different ways. In Rainbows is all about finding a way to move into new territory with the weapons radiohead has developed over the past two decades. There are no huge leaps forward or stunning experiments, rather radiohead seems to focus on songcraft for the sake of writing good songs again. They still haven't gotten the flow back from the days of Kid A but most of the album hangs together well (except I still hate Reckoner). For Wilco (the album) Tweedy seems to be looking backwards. Every track reminds me of a song from another Tweedy work. Let's break it down...

1. Wilco (the song)- The melody for this is dangerously close to Tweedy's "We've Been Had" from his Uncle Tupelo days. Instead of rejecting rock and roll as a lie, Tweedy tries to see the positive impact of rock on the listeners. This is a catchy rocker right off the bat which immediately separates it from anything on Sky Blue Sky. Good move.

2. Deeper Down- This song shares a lyrical idea with "She's A Jar" from Summerteeth (the bookend lyrics) and is not a million miles away from it musically. The arrangement recalls Being There era attempts to find a sound that is somewhere between indie rock and americana. This isn't the best song on the album but is solid in execution.

3. One Wing- When I first heard this, I did not care for it. It has grown on me, though. Musically, this song dwells firmly in Sky Blue Sky style shimmery guitar and mid-tempo percussion. Somewhere buried in all that is a hook or two that works pretty well. The lyrics are unintentionally comical but Tweedy somehow pulls them off with his sincere voice. Check back with me later to see how I would rate this.

4. Bull Black Nova- The internet cool kids love this one. It sounds like Kidsmoke but shorter. This is as experimental as the new album gets with a keyboard doing a call and response with a guitar line. The song seems to be building to something and, even though the release is not as cathartic as the best rock songs, it still works.

5. You and I- This duet is pretty sweet natured and happy. It serves as a nice comedown after the snarling beast that is Bull Black Nova. The sentiment is nice but, ultimately, this is an undistinguished song.

6. You Never Know- Here is one of two songs Tweedy seems to be channeling Summerteeth through. Beach Boy harmonies, a bouncy piano line and all the things I thought had died when Bennett was kicked out. Of course, no one has his flair for weirdo percussion or instruments flying in from nowhere but it still holds up as a good pop song (if a little repetitive by the end).

7. Country Disappeared- Honestly, I can't even tell you what this sounds like. Like the worst formless much on SBS, this song just kind of sits there which is a shame after the propulsion of the last track.

8. Solitaire- I have gone from liking to hating to liking this song again over the course of a week. This is not like anything on Tweedy's plate except maybe his work with the Minus Five. He avoids an easy rhyme at the beginning and it seems to meander a bit but this song about loneliness is pretty good in all.

9. I'll Fight- Here is some old school Wilco as well. A lyrical idea out of AM or something moves this little ditty along. It isn't well developed but what is here is fun.

10. Sonny Feeling- My second favorite track and another Summerteeth contender. This one has a guitar hook that works like an ear worm. I dare you not to at least enjoy this song while it is playing (if not whistle it fondly when it is not). Another Beach Boys homage and a strong way to end the meat of the album

11. Everlasting Everything- This is, sad to say, not a good way to end an album. Soggy, undercooked and a pale imitation of On and On and On. There is one cool musical moment right before the chorus starts but, otherwise, this one needed more time in the studio.

So, a solid album. I would put it up there with a Ghost is Born. Not cohesive but entertaining. Unlike every other Wilco album, I have no idea where they will go from here (unless Solitaire is the roadmap track). I would probably give In Rainbows the edge for now but check with me later. Looks like Radiohead hasn't been dethroned just yet.

Josh

Public Enemies

Here we are again, with the same old problem. Movies about real life and real people, I would argue, are never as interesting as fiction. I know truth may, at times, be stranger but real life rarely follows satisfying conventions of plot and characterization. Being raised on American cinema, I am a big fan of and believer in the three act structure in regards to action/adventure movies. Or, in this case, crime drama. Episodic (or as I think of it, European) narratives work well for long-form works like TV series, comedies with strong central characters or slice-of-life dramas. Public Enemies does not fall into any of these genres.

Looking for action? Well, probably won't find enough here to keep you happy. There are a few shootouts but, if you know the story of Dillinger, you know how anti-climactic the movie is. Looking for strong characterization? Sorry, all out of that, too. Christian Bale's Melvin Purvis has no real shadings besides being a bit of an image-conscious kiss-ass. Dillinger throws out a line about being beaten by his father and refuses to take a dirt farmer's money in one bank he robs, therefore, we are supposed to like him. Depp tries like all get out to make Dillinger charismatic and charming but he comes off as sort of a dick. The film is loaded with a strong supporting cast including Giovanni Ribisi, Leelee Sobieski, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup and other folks you will recognize (like the sidekick from Snatch as Baby Face Nelson and the judge from the Wire). Michael Mann (who has directed good movies like Heat, Thief and Collateral) seems to hope that the legend of these characters and the power of the acting will make up for any lack of "why should I give a damn?" character building. It doesn't.

In several scenes, the frenetic editing makes the geography of the fights muddy (this is getting to be a bigger deal to me as quick cuts become the norm). In one instance, we have identically dressed white men shooting at each other at night, in the woods. It was very difficult to follow the action until the cast began spreading out a little. Likewise, the music for the movie is sloppy and all over the place. Songs aren't used to any consistent purpose but appear multiple times for no reason. Likewise, the score cuts in and out aburptly and makes things laughable.

In the end, there are about three really good scenes in the movie. One where Dillinger's girl is being interrogated, one where Dillinger takes a walk through a police department like a ghost and a handful of action moments that add up to one good action scene. Unless you are just a real fan of criminal history, I would not really recommend this movie. It doesn't deliver enough thrills to be an action movie or enough insight to be a character drama.

Josh