Lurking beneath the surface of Wilco’s new A.M., an extremely pleasant collection of country-tinged rock songs, are more than a few touches that slowly grow on you. First you notice them, then look forward to them, and then get a bit obsessive about them. In the opening track there’s a soaring, keening slide riff–reminiscent of David Lindley’s gorgeous sound on early Jackson Browne albums–that cements the song in your head. In “I Thought I Held You,” bandleader Jeff Tweedy sings, “You’re the reason / I’ve run out of metaphors”; he then falls silent, letting the song go for a verse or two with no words. The closing song, “Too Far Apart,” has a irresistible syncopated organ swell. And on the jangly pop confection “Box Full of Letters,” there is, besides another deeply pleasurable guitar line, a lyric that’s hard not to read as a sidelong comment to his partner in the late Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar.
But I guess I’ll give ’em back
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In 1987 he and Farrar formed Uncle Tupelo and began crafting a fairly startling brand of country punk–not cowpunk, as too many novelty-tinged bands envision it, but a slower and psychically intense style of punk-informed roots music. At first Farrar’s big, indignant voice dominated the band, but as it evolved Tweedy’s more shambling and charming instrument and his less overwrought songwriting took a higher profile. Their best album was their last, the major-label debut Anodyne, on Sire, but Tweedy and Farrar split a year ago.
