The Cover Uncovered: How Wilco embodied Chicago on ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’
Architecture and album art have always endured a strong relationship, but the question is, would you be able to recognise the locations of the buildings immortalised on the covers of classic albums, or are they so synonymous with the record that their original purpose has become insignificant?
If I were to mention the address of 96-98 St Mark’s Place, New York City, would you instantly recognise it as being the location of the apartments on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti, or would you need the visual representation of it to make a connection? How about Kestrel House in London? When it adorns the front of The Streets’ Original Pirate Material, it’s instantly recognisable, but in broad daylight, it’s simply another tower block in the capital’s skyline.
The same can be said of Marina City, Chicago, with its twin towers darting into the clouds above the Windy City. If shown an image of these obelisks, any music fan will immediately recognise them, but calling them by their official name is something perhaps only a native Chicagoan would be able to do. To everyone else, they’re simply the ‘Wilco Towers’.
Since the dissolution of Uncle Tupelo, the band that acted as a precursor to Wilco, the Chicago-based ensemble have become an institution within their home city, and are seen as something of an embodiment of everything that the city has to offer culturally. Writing about the experiences of living in such a diverse and vibrant environment, frontman Jeff Tweedy has always been celebrated as one of Chicago’s greatest sons, and his finest achievement is the album that holds the closest connection to his place of origin.
It’s on the cover of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that we’re given a sketch of the Marina City towers against a cream background; a simplistic design created by Lawrence Azerrad and adapted from a photograph by Sam Jones that leaves little in the way of points of interest to focus on. However, the simplicity of the sleeve shouldn’t be a reason to dismiss it, because it’s the context of the image’s subject that so precisely captures everything Wilco was aiming for with the release of the album.
The construction towers over everything in close proximity to it, exerting this domineering yet precarious sense of power over everything else, much like the dynamic within the band at the time. Having released Summerteeth, their most ambitious record to date, in 1999, a significant amount of pressure was placed on Wilco to repeat their achievements on their follow-up, yet Tweedy and guitarist Jay Bennett were regularly in dispute over how to make things more ambitious.
Rather than simply repeat what they’d done before, they chose to push themselves further into epic art rock territory, essentially working from a blank slate and creating a piece of work that bore no resemblance to anything that had come before it. Considering how the construction of Marina City came in the wake of the Chicago Fire of 1871, not only was its modernist approach to architecture unlike anything that the city had previously witnessed, but it was built from nothing.
They were seen as confusing to the local residents at the time, but have since become regarded as ahead of their time, and perceived as something of a symbol of pride within the city. What Wilco managed to achieve with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot echoes this, and given how it led to them being dropped by their label for being too experimental and eventually ended up cementing their status as one of America’s greatest modern rock bands mirrors the reception to the construction of the towers.
It may not necessarily always paint Chicago in the most positive light, but Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is far more representative of life in the city than any other indie rock record produced by an act from the region. If you’re going to paint a portrait of it, you have to acknowledge the hardships of city life: consumerism, homelessness, addiction and feeling lost, and no other record dares to speak about Chicago in the same way.
Using the image of these buildings that represent both the dark and light sides of the city instantly places you within its environment as you listen, and as Wilco embodies everything that these monoliths stand for, you’re forced to stand below them, look up, and admire it for their confounding beauty.
