I gave the new Wilco album, called Wilco (The Album), a listen back when it leaked and subsequently became fully streamable on the band’s website a week or two or whenever it happened ago. I wasn’t much impressed but quite frankly I wasn’t in much of a mood for it either, and after that I’ve just been busy or hooked up on other musical things. A few days ago I decided to finally give it another check. This then subsequently turned into more listens.

Here’s Wilco the Album the Nutshell: it’s not great. It’s not near the band’s masterpieces. Its latter half wonks up a bit after a really good first half. But it’s good. It’s addictive. It’s got some really strong moments. It’s actually got that leisured Wilco feeling nailed down successfully rather than how e.g. Sky Blue Sky portrayed it as. I’d go so far as to say that Wilco the Album is what Sky Blue Sky was supposed to be.

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I own all of Wilco’s studio albums bar one on CD, and the remaining I’ve got in digital format waiting for a physical purchase some day in the future. They’re number 16 in my Last.FM top artists chart. “Jesus, Etc” is one of my favourite songs of all time and Jeff Tweedy is a fantastic singer. Wilco’s a band whose future endeavours I’m excited to follow.

But at the end of the day, when I really start thinking about it, I really have no good reason to be as into them as I am. One of their albums is quite frankly poor, two of them are alright but dodgy. Out of the remaining three, only one is a genuinely great record (and one I love dearly). The other two, while good, definitely have their flaws. Sometimes I wonder why I spend my money on them.

The reason? Because those three albums just make it all worth it.

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