Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Description

Named in honour of the three-word codes used by short-wave radio operators, Wilcos fourth album sounds like a late-night broadcast of some weirdly wonderful pop station punctuated by static and the sonic bleed of competing signals. Songs that begin with simple, elegiac graceAshes of American Flags and Poor Placesend in a cathartic squall of distortion. The results can be initially jarring, but its these tracks more than the sturdy jangle pop of Kamera or Heavy Metal Drummer that demand, and reward, repeated listens. Mixed by studio experimentalist Jim ORourke and produced by the band, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot harkens back to a time when the words pop and sonic adventurism werent mutually exclusive. The Beatles and Kurt Cobain knew this, and clearly so do Jeff Tweedy and company.