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Summer Teeth

Summer Teeth

a review by quinn of
release format Summer Teeth by Wilco (CD Album)

text

Somebody do an intervention on Jeff Tweedy - please. Even though Mary Poppins was right in singing that "A Spoonful of Sugar" helps the medicine go down, this is still no less than an exquisitely tuneful cry for help. "Summer Teeth" artfully balances many disparate elements while still maintaining a singular voice: Beach Boys harmonies on "Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again)", Ray Davies melodic curves circa "Village Green Preservation Society" on "Shot In the Arm", and an overt nod to the Velvets on "I'm Always in Love" are just a few in this multi-textured effort (note to Uncle Tupelo fans, Tweedy's former band: this ain't alt.country). Yet beneath its bright and mostly cheery surface bubble some uneasy lyrical causes for concern. With songs titled "How to fight Loneliness" and "Via Chicago" which opens with "I dreamed about killing you again last night/And it felt alright to me", one wonders how much Tweedy is wearing his heart on his sleeve. Wilco has shown much growth on "Summer Teeth", even if they don't pack the walloped surprise of their 1996 double-CD tour de force "Being There". It is, however, more focused than the sprawl of their previous release. Musically, there seems to a lot of care taken to arrangement, variety and continuity, which is not to say that this is an overly polished production. Tweedy's occasionally cracked voice, and the players' impressively ragged musicianship sounds as if they're searching for the magic moment; they frequently find it. There is a feeling of an underlying journey through the search for identity amidst struggles of relationship, and dealing alternately with frustration and self-reproach. Even in the message of "I'm Always in Love" there is a sense of impending tragedy when Tweedy answers himself "I'm worried/I'm worried/I'm always in love". It's a good thing that Wilco are so artful in balancing light with shade - it makes for a complex, entertaining and disturbing work whose musical charms manage to hide an unquiet mind. Call it music for mood-swingers.

Posted by quinn at 00:00, 29 Jun 1999