Star Wars

Spacy Americana/ indie rock.
They started out in country, dappled in fragile acoustic tracks and feedback jams alike in the wilderness of indie, and waded out of the quicksand that is being tagged with the dreaded phrase “dad rock.” And then they released an album for free on the internet, with a cat on the cover. This is 2015 Wilco, and still aptly-described with this phrase from old KZSUer Trent: “challenging yet groovy front-porch rock.” Great summery listen, with some synthy/machiney effects to reflect the title of Star Wars throughout.

FCC Clean. Recommended: 3, 9, 11, 5, 8, 6

RIYL Quasi, David Bowie’s Hunky Dory?, … Wilco

1. (1:16) instrumental - brief frenzied folky meets angular jam.
2. (2:44) mid. acoustic lead into midtempo relaxed groove.
3. *(3:50) mid. fuzzy goodness: perky, simple, irresistible hook. “I kinda like it when I make you cry/a miracle every once in a while.” great outro.
4. (2:33) mid. picks up where 3 left off. Tweedy’s voice is great, mildly gravelly without Tom Waits-ing with hints of country twang.
5.**(5:17) slow-med. a beautiful, expansive shoegazey/postrocky riff builds over feedback. shades of the epic jams on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
6. *(3:15) mid. good ol’ laid back sweetheart Tweedy. (see #2) simple, wistful, so good.
7. (2:30) mid. scratchy glitchy, just gits and vox until it picks up. has a badass edge to it. “no one tells me how to behave” - how’s that for dad rock? ends cold btw
8. *(2:55) mid. just git and Tweedy until the last :50 where a great riff and drums take over. there’s a chord in this that reminds me of Elliott Smith’s Figure 8 era stuff. beautiful and yearning, but nothing too sappy.
9. **(3:11) slow-mid. this has the edge from #7 and the sad beauty from #8. heartbreaking refrain: “I won’t recognize you.” excellent, almost Wilco at their best
10. (2:41) slow-mid. picks up where 9 left off. electric high-pitched fuzz, same riff throughout song.
11. **(3:40) slow-mid. ticking percussion, synths layer under (double-tracked?) vox, “I sleep underneath a picture that I keep of you next to me.” piano and George Harrison-like guitar make for a unique, mysterious and beautiful song.