Wilco

Wilco kicks off with "Wilco," clueing you in that this is another loose and playful outing. That doesn't mean that Jeff Tweedy is no longer taking songwriting seriously -- "One Wing," "You & I" (a duet with Feist) and "You Never Know" are as toe-tappingly strong and personal as ever. The album may miss the far-reaching guitar work of Sky Blue Sky, but the band still rocks and the playing-live vibe is enhanced by some fine studio production. For those who have missed Tweedy's ballad heartbreakers, go directly to "Solitaire," "Country Disappeared" or "Everlasting Everything."

Wilco's seventh studio album is a triumph of determined simplicity by a band that has been
running from the obvious for most of this decade. The title is the giveaway. So is the
opening gag, "Wilco (The Song)," with its rattling-bones guitar and singer-boss Jeff
Tweedy's assurance, sung like pillow talk, that his combo is good for all that ails you: "Do
you dabble in depression?/Is someone twisting a knife in your back?...Wilco will... More >