Wilco - A Ghost is Born

Sounds Like: A band asleep at the wheel cruising through Texas in the year 2375.

See Also: Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Loose Fur.

Like a 40-year-old with acne, the sophomore slump makes an unwelcome and misplaced return with Wilco's A Ghost is Born.

Wilco's first record, the pleasant but unremarkable A.M., appeared in 1995 and since then their releases have ranged from solid (1999's Summerteeth) to excellent (1996's Being There) to astounding (2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot).

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the last long-player released by the quartet and it has already achieved classic status in the minds of many a rock fan. Repeating the conundrum of so many bands, Wilco's follow-up to YHF has left the band sounding almost as pale as the titular specter.

Wilco attempts to pick up where YHF's hook-laden and deconstructed pop songs left off. The general sound of the record is much the same, perhaps because of producer Jim O'Rourke's presence (the producer/composer/guitarist mixed YHF).

There is an overall softness to the record, even when singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeff Tweedy is embarking on one of his ill-advised guitar solos. Wilco has never been a band prone to jam, but perhaps it hopes to change that with these songs and the addition of avant-jazz guitarist Nels Cline to its live line-up. Whatever the reason, Tweedy's solos are noisy but sound out of place and inept in a band full of such competent musicians.

The songs themselves are usually nice enough. They move along at an even clip. Not too fast, not too slow. However, after the daring and counterintuitive song structures of YHF, the songs from A Ghost is Born sound placid and easy. Even Tweedy's lyrics have taken a dive. In the past his lyrics have occasionally ascended to brilliance. Here the most interesting fragment, with its neat and clever conflation of birth and death, is written across the cover.

Of course all this means is that Wilco has produced what is, by all other standards, a good record. Most bands would kill to be able to make a record like A Ghost is Born, but for Wilco it is either a lull or the mark of a slow decline. Lines like, "She appears in his dreams/but in his car and in his arms/a dream can mean anything" from "Hummingbird" are rarities for most bands, but sound maudlin coming out of Tweedy's mouth.

There are high points, though. "Muzzle of Bees" has the ominous open finger picking and abstract lyrics that differentiate Tweedy from his alt-country roots, yet make them recognizable. The juxtaposition of a Randy Newman-like opening chord progression with an ironic semi-narrative about the comforts of accepting a modern hell in "Hell is Chrome" highlights Tweedy's dark playfulness.

The band is, as usual, in top form. Excluding the solos, everyone sounds crisp. Drummer Glen Kotche proves again that he is one of the best drummers in rock by playing with eloquence and restraint.

Though hardly unlistenable, A Ghost is Born is perhaps too listenable. I would be loathe to criticize a band for making music that doesn't sound like their old stuff. Wilco has made an album that doesn't sound like their old stuff. Somehow, though, it doesn't sound like their new stuff, either.