Wilco – ‘Cousin’ album review: having fun spinning the wheels
At this stage, Wilco doesn’t need to prove their worth to anyone. After earning creative freedom back in the 2000s with the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Jeff Tweedy’s signature style has been defining what alternative country and independent rock has sounded like, with whatever fantastic backing band is working behind him. Although Tweedy could easily retire as one of the most well-respected artists in the indie scene, his latest offerings of work with Wilco on Cousin are always from the heart… for better and for worse.
Although the experience of being there for the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is lost on your humble reviewer, it’s easy to see the importance behind Wilco’s legacy. Throughout their 2000s work and their collaborations with Billy Bragg on Mermaid Avenue, the band has made creative strides that have brought them to create new tracks like the title track and ‘Ten Dead’.
Even though the album does have its fair share of highlights, the majority of the album does feel a touch disjointed from one track to the next, almost like the band is settling on a particular theme and then not honing in on it or moving on to something else entirely. Regardless of what song he finds himself in, Tweedy knows how to string together his images better than any songwriter, painting abstract photos of characters that are lost and lonely on tracks like ‘Evicted’.
Though songs like ‘A Bowl and A Pudding’ feature immaculate melodic passages, there are certain elements that tend to feel half-finished by the band’s usual standards. While other Wilco albums in the past have been known for relatively ramshackle production cycles, the result sounds like the band trying their best to articulate themselves but ends up getting lost in different melodic passages.
Granted, it’s easy to see why the band would want to showcase the massive amount of talent they have on display. Outside of Tweedy’s songwriting, Nels Cline’s leads are some of the greatest he’s put down to tape in a while. Although not the traditional player, his way of creating a tapestry of noise sets up different images in the listener’s mind, especially on the opening track ‘Infinite Surprise’ where he makes his lead lines sound like a strange blend between a 1980s hard rock guitar solo and a blast of horns.
Even though there are some great moments put into the album throughout, that’s all they seem to be…moments. Many of the tracks sound destined to become a part of a future Wilco greatest-hits record like ‘Meant To Be’ or ‘Evicted’, but when putting them next to the other tracks on the record, they don’t seem to have as much muscle.
This goes back to the age-old question that many fans have struggled with for years: is it worse to be offensively bad or to be boring? Although there’s nothing on Cousin that would cause fans to get their pitchforks out by any means, the more unremarkable tracks tend to wash over the listener like a haze. While with bands like My Bloody Valentine, this usually works like a charm, it tends to be a bit of a sit with Wilco’s brand of alternative rock.
But is this a deal-breaker for any Wilco fan? Hell no. For seasoned fans, there’s a good chance they could get something out of the album, especially if they’re willing to do the deeper digging. Then again, any passive Wilco fans looking to sink their teeth into the best this band had to offer would be better off going to the band’s 1990s and 2000s work or even patches of Tweedy’s solo catalogue before visiting this.
Even though Wilco may have more than a few middle-of-the-road tracks through Cousin, it’s certainly nothing to complain about. Considering the massive amount of ‘90s acts of Wilco’s calibre that have broken up only to reform for a quick paycheck, it’s nice to know that the band are coming together to make music just for the joy of making it, even if things can get a bit monotonous.
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