Cousin
It takes less than a second for Wilco’s 13th album to make its intentions known. Opening track “Infinite Surprise” begins in medias res, with an abrupt wash of dissonance and a metronome that sounds purposefully not on purpose. On the heels of 2022’s what-it-says-on-the-tin throwback to the band’s y’alternative roots, *Cruel Country*—and, really, most of the band’s work for the prior decade or so—this jarring introduction announces a welcome sense of mischief. *Cruel Country* arrived as Wilco was celebrating the 20th anniversary of their defining opus, *Yankee Hotel Foxtrot*, complete with valedictory mini-tour and lush box set recounting and relitigating the album’s famously tense personal/personnel drama. If there’s anything that defines Wilco’s career since, it’s Jeff Tweedy’s reluctance to replicate those conditions; no amount of creative energy and friction could be worth the psychic cost. Wilco has had the same lineup since 2005, they write and record in a cozy Chicago home base, they are a fully thriving and self-sufficient entity like few bands would dare to dream of. So the moment of noise and unease feels like a recentering, even if no one will mistake *Cousin* for *Yankee Hotel Foxtrot* or the winding krautrock freakouts of 2004’s *A Ghost Is Born*. Produced by Cate Le Bon—the first time the band has worked with an outside producer since Jim Scott co-produced 2009’s *Wilco (The Album)*—the album is the sound of a band wriggling out of that comfort zone in small but meaningful ways. “Sunlight Ends” is an atmospheric twinkle of a song driven by a hushed digital (or consciously digital-seeming) drum track that feels uniquely Wilco, yet not quite like anything the band has made in a long time. The title track has a similar skitter to it that lends just the right amount of wooziness. But the goal, beyond that opening second, is not to disorient or misdirect. While the album title can’t help but suggest *The Bear*, which leans heavily on Wilco syncs to shore up its Chicago bona fides, “cousin” as a concept also feels familial and familiar and sometimes maybe just a little bit weird.
With help from producer Cate Le Bon, the Chicago band’s 13th album flickers to life on several songs that hint at the controlled chaos of their bygone experimental era.
With help from producer Cate Le Bon, the Chicago band’s 13th album flickers to life on several songs that hint at the controlled chaos of their bygone experimental era.
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Wilco's influence is hard to quantify. Like the towering structures that pepper the skyline of their hometown of Chicago, the shadow they cast is hard to
Wilco's influence is hard to quantify. Like the towering structures that pepper the skyline of their hometown of Chicago, the shadow they cast is hard to
Cousin by Wilco album review: 30 years into their career, Jeff Tweedy and co are a true alt-rock institution
Cousin by Wilco album review: 30 years into their career, Jeff Tweedy and co are a true alt-rock institution
Working with an outside producer for the first time in years, Wilco nudge their sound in new directions on ‘Cousin.’ Read our review.
Working with an outside producer for the first time in years, Wilco nudge their sound in new directions on ‘Cousin.’ Read our review.
Wilco can stand out from the roots-informed indie pack, but 'Cousin' shows they are content to go with the flow even as they get back to experimentalism.
Wilco can stand out from the roots-informed indie pack, but 'Cousin' shows they are content to go with the flow even as they get back to experimentalism.
Cousin by Wilco album review by Ryan Meyer for Northern Transmissions. The band's new full-length drops on September 29th via dBpm Records
Cousin by Wilco album review by Ryan Meyer for Northern Transmissions. The band's new full-length drops on September 29th via dBpm Records
Jeff Tweedy and co’s 13th album bears a close family resemblance to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but with Cate Le Bon in the producer’s chair, it has an appealing wash of left-field weirdness and its lyrics express an older man’s anxieties
Jeff Tweedy and co’s 13th album bears a close family resemblance to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but with Cate Le Bon in the producer’s chair, it has an appealing wash of left-field weirdness and its lyrics express an older man’s anxieties
Wilco’s 13th album reveals the full splendour of both Jeff Tweedy’s lyrics and the band’s exquisite musicianship
Wilco’s 13th album reveals the full splendour of both Jeff Tweedy’s lyrics and the band’s exquisite musicianship