Pop/Pop Rock/ Folk Rock: Wilco - Summerteeth 1999 (2020 Remaster, Reprise)

 

Wilco evolved at remarkable speed after forming in 1994, almost immediately after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo. Their debut album, 1995's A.M., was an upbeat set of alt-country that bore few, if any surprises, but 1996's Being There was a major creative departure that moved far beyond the boundaries of roots music. 1999's Summerteeth was initially controversial among fans because it marked the spot where Wilco almost entirely abandoned the country influences that had once been the core of Jeff Tweedy's music.

Instead, Tweedy and Jay Bennett, who had gone from being the group's guitarist to manning a massive bank of keyboards and becoming Tweedy's primary collaborator in the studio, concocted a stunning set of off-kilter pop, suggesting a Midwestern fusion of peak-era Brian Wilson and Big Star's 3rd. ("Pieholden Suite" in particular is a lovely homage to the Beach Boys' Smile, then still circulating only in bootleg form.) At the same time, this brilliantly constructed pop music was also pop with a dark and troubling center; the violence at the heart of "She's a Jar" and "Via Chicago" is too blunt to avoid, and even the brightest moments ("Can't Stand It," "A Shot in the Arm," and "When You Wake Up Feeling Old") sound and feel emotionally out of balance, giving this a complicated emotional push-and-pull that reinforces the resonance of the performances.

 (The album's most lovable pop tune, "Candyfloss," significantly comes near the end of the set, bookended after a 20-second burst of silence.) While Wilco was inarguably Jeff Tweedy's band at this point, Summerteeth was the apex of his collaboration with Jay Bennett, even more so than 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and while John Stirratt and Ken Coomer were their strong, reliable selves as a rhythm section, it's Bennett's keyboards and production smarts that give life to a set of great, uncompromising songs. If Being There was the album where Jeff Tweedy embraced all that was possible with Wilco, Summerteeth was where he closed the door on the past and boldly stepped into a very different future. (Mark Deming, allmusic.com)

For me the musically most beautiful, perhaps the best, but for Tweedy and the band certainly the most important. With this they cleared the way for everything to come. 

When the record came out and I heard it for the first time, it completely blew me away. And still today, one of the most important albums for me. Enjoy! (Frank)

Für mich das musikalisch schönste, vielleicht das beste, aber für Tweedy und die Band sicherlich das wichtigste. Damit machten sie den Weg frei für alles zukünftige. Als die Platte erschien und ich sie zum ersten Mal hörte, hat sie mich vollkommen umgehauen. Und auch heute noch eines der wichtigsten Alben für mich. Viel Spaß! (Frank)

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