Songs You Need To Hear Now #33
Let's talk about this new Wilco record.
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Here is some great new music I’ve been listening to this week. Thanks to everyone who is saving the playlist! Thanks to everyone who has followed and “liked” for all of the latest updates 🙏
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When I wrote about seeing Wilco last fall, I had my mind on Cruel Country, the double album they were touring in support of. I had difficulty getting into that record, as I have with a few of their latter-era efforts, but damn if the new songs weren’t so much better live. After seeing them a handful of times in the aughts and then taking a decade-plus break, I knew they had it in them because even though some of their new catalog might fall flat, they still put on a great show.
When the prolific group quickly turned around and announced another new record this fall called Cousin, one thing caught my eye that gave me hope of something new from them: for the first time since Wilco (The Album) back in 2009, Wilco would be working with a different producer besides Tom Schick (not that he always missed - The Whole Love is a fantastic entry). Even more interesting is that Welsh baroque pop extraordinaire Cate Le Bon would be behind the boards. As a massive fan of Pompeii, her excellent record from last year, I looked forward to her bringing new sounds to the veteran group.
As a fan of the television show The Bear and its perfect soundtrack, which often features the Chicago hometown heroes, I also thoroughly enjoyed what may be my favorite music meme of the year:
Cousin dropped a week and a half ago and has eaten up most of my new music listening. A quick first listen in the car didn’t hit right, but like some of Wilco’s other entries, I felt the details would blossom with time. Now, I can say this is a nice record, and not only is Jeff Tweedy’s songwriting reliably great, but Le Bon’s approach of recording the band live and switching up their textures makes this lovely fall record stand out.
Let me get this out of the way: if “Ten Dead,” which kills the momentum of an otherwise fantastic run to open the record, and “Soldier Child,” which does the same in the back half, were both cut and we’d have a perfect eight-song album. “Evicted,” which invokes their A Ghost Is Born era, is easily their best single in many years. “Infinite Surprise” is a classic, delicately noisy Wilco opener, and Le Bon’s new coat of paint boosts it. The electronic nuances on “Sunlight Ends” work wonderfully with guitarist Nels Cline's ambient flourishes, and “A Bowl and A Pudding” rightfully takes its time morphing into a groove driven by Glenn Kotche’s drums.
Wilco is usually good for at least one absolutely gorgeous number on each record. On Cousin, it’s “Pittsburgh,” which is the perfect marriage of latter-era Wilco and Le Bon’s production efforts:
Have you listened to the new Wilco record? Is it enough of a change in sound to keep you interested? Let me know in the comments!
These songs are also included in the ever-popular Good Ass Songs 2023 playlist. At over three hundred songs and counting, it’s the best way to catch up on another excellent year of music!
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Lovely playlist, thanks!
That single by Vanishing Twin really is something else! I gave the album a try last night and not sure it works for me. I love the Blondshell album and expect it’ll make my top 50 this year.
I don’t know much about Molly Burch (which is a little disappointing given she’s already got a few albums under her belt, but also kinda exciting from an exploration perspective) but I’ve really been enjoying Daydreamer.
My hot take after an initial listen to Cousin was “best Wilco album since Star Wars.” After four listens, I stand by that. Le Bon’s influence is more subtle than I expected, more pushing the edges than pushing the envelope. I especially like Infinite Surprise, A Bowl and a Pudding and Pittsburgh. The first “sounds” of Infinite Surprise are simply dropped on the listener; it’s not until a few measures in that you get a solid semblance of song. The intro to Bowl and a Pudding reminds me a bit of Nick Drake, which is solid ground to be on. And Pittsburgh has some great lines and covers a lot of ground musically. I actually like Soldier Child, but agree that it’s the least interesting track on “side 2” of the album. Here’s my not-too-serious take on Wilco and The National dropping albums at essentially the same time:
https://open.substack.com/pub/marcusmeeks/p/sad-dad-rock-stack-no-1?r=1842ie&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post