Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

A camel and a birthday cake on their album artwork. A weird self-titled(ish) album title. I guess sometimes even your dad's favorite band needs to poke fun at themselves. On their seventh full length, Wilco (The Album), the Chicago elder statesmen return to the studio-based sound of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born, leaving behind the live concert feel of their last album, Sky Blue Sky. Opener "Wilco the Song" finds Jeff Tweedy and Co. in fine form, singing about putting on headphones and being a "sonic shoulder for you to cry on." Wilco is now singing about Wilco. This shit just got meta, kids. Next up is "Deeper Down," which is reminiscent of Foxtrot-era Wilco (is that singing saw, I hear?), but also sounds like a lost Elliott Smith track, with its soft acoustic touch and introspective lyrics about a boxer. Elsewhere, the bouncy piano chords of "Bull Black Nova" (oddly enough) sounds like Spoon and the long-awaited Feist duet, "You And I," is as indietastic and wonderful as you predicted it would be. Wilco starts fading halfway through ("You Never Know" and "Country Disappeared" didn't do much for me), but luckily things pick up again with optimistic cries of "I'll Fight" and the alt-country pomp of "Sunny Feeling." Wilco is an excellent return to the band's accomplished studio sound and is overall a more concise record than Sky Blue Sky. It's not flawless like Foxtrot or A Ghost Is Born, but it's still Wilco doing Wilco the best that they can, with their tongues planted a bit more firmly in cheek this time around.

DOWNLOAD: Wilco - Wilco (The Album) [Nonesuch]
Recommended Tracks: "One Wing," "Bull Black Nova," "You And I," "I'll Fight," "Sunny Feeling."