Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Upon listening to the advance release of the long anticipated new one by Wilco, my immediate reaction was one of confusion. I didn’t know if I thought it was boring or really catchy. I thought it was perhaps their worst album to date, or maybe their best. I will say that this is Wilco sounding, once again, totally different than they’ve ever sounded before. It does sound like they’re another band caught in a wave of nostalgia for AM 70’s radio. I do hear touches of Wings, Steely Dan, even Dr. Hook and perhaps the side project of bandmates John Stiratt and Pat Sansone (Autumn Defense,) has spilled over a bit onto this one. It’s definitely what I would call a 3-listener release, meaning that you should not judge this one based on your first listen. I think “Impossible Germany” is my favourite song, which is interesting because it’s really the only one that sounds like it may have been a castoff from a previous album (maybe “Being There?”) Also, the instrumentation is another definite selling point for this album, in that the band is playing better than ever before, most noticeably lead guitarist Nels Cline. “What Light” has a certain Band feel to it. Finally, I particularly like the final song “On and On and On” which is incredibly simple and stripped back, which is ironic considering that usually a Wilco song title like that means that the song may literally go “on and on.”

Wilco will be performing at Massey Hall on June 30^th with Low.

Download:
What Light zip file mp3

Wilco is on myspace.
Pre-order the new album “Sky Blue Sky” at Amazon.ca.