Sky Blue Sky
Wilco
Jack says: C-
Release Date: 5/22/07
After first listening to Sky Blue Sky, Wilco’s sixth studio album, due out Tuesday, my initial reaction was to proclaim it “The Best Sunday Morning Hangover Album Ever Made.” (In hindsight, this was a distinction clearly granted in haste — it’s up against some great and well-established competition in that category. Nonetheless…) Such a title can be interpreted a couple ways: At best, it implies songs that are everything one might be looking for on such a morning — soothing, refreshing, invigorating — all apt and suitable descriptions of Wilco’s past work. At worst, and, unfortunately, closer to the reality of Sky Blue Sky, it means 51 boring minutes.
The one thing I always liked about Wilco was that, for all but its most experimental, it was the rare “indie” rock band that could be appreciated equally by snobbish hipster bloggers and casual music fans with just the slightest level of taste. As Rob Mitchum pointed out in his review of Sky Blue Sky for Pitchfork, Wilco has long been the band that if played when your dad comes to visit would elicit little objection — he might even enjoy it. The downfall of Sky Blue Sky is that it is more like an album your old man might play for you.
Sky Blue Sky’s lyrics are, on the whole, uninspired and uninspiring, lacking the usual depth and resonance of albums past. The virtuosic guitar interplay between frontman/songwriter Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline, as showcased in “Either Way,” is slick on a technical level, yet still veers dangerously close to coming across as elevator music — it instead settles somewhere between James Taylor and self-indulgent jam band-like heroics. “Shake It Off,” for more reasons than I care to delve into, might be the worst song Wilco has ever produced.
Not that Sky Blue Sky is all bad. “Impossible Germany,” with its slow, steady canter and melancholy temperament, recalls the measured desperation of “How to Fight Loneliness,” and “A Shot in the Arm,” both from Wilco’s 1999 masterpiece Summerteeth. Despite an ill-advised instrumental break that consumes the song’s final three-and-a-half minutes, it is Sky Blue Sky’s best track. “What Light,” the tender and uplifting lead single, though far from earth shattering, mindfully avoids the pitfalls that plague most of the album.
Still, despite their occasional charms, after several listens to each of Sky Blue Sky’s 13 tracks, one is struck with the peculiar feeling of not genuinely being able to remember even one. Never one to shy from the unconventional, Tweedy on Sky Blue Sky seems altogether hesitant to experiment. In fact, disappointingly, the album’s most memorable moments are those when it appears the idea of pushing the envelope was mulled over and never fully committed to, and that, as a result, fell flat. (See “Shake It Off” above)
Wilco’s greatest strength is its ability to shift effortlessly and seamlessly from atmospheric mood music to foot-stomping rock to straightforward bubblegum pop. Though it still haunts them at times, they long ago outgrew the “alt-country” designation bestowed upon them as a result of their folksy first two albums. Here, though mostly twang-free, Tweedy’s songwriting seems resigned to settle back into a safe and well-traveled groove. At their best Wilco is daring and unpredictable, yet consistently well above average. Sky Blue Sky, on the other hand, feels disappointingly comfortable and hardly better than hit or miss.
Key tracks: “Impossible Germany,” “Please Be Patient with Me”