Wilco – Cousin

Although, not an essential entry into the Wilco catalog, Cousin is an excellent album. It is an amalgamation of what they do best and therefore a great introduction to Wilco. I was smitten at first listen and it has only gotten better with subsequent listens.

Steven Hyden, in a recent episode of IndieCast, proposed an interesting theory: really good recording artists/bands (he used the term “legacy bands”) have, at best, a 7 to 8 essential album lifespan – the rest of the catalog is non-essential. He was specifically using Wilco as an example. Wilco had an amazing seven album run from 1995 (A.M.) through 2007 (Sky Blue Sky) – I am including their collaboration with Woody Guthrie and Billy Brag (1998’s Mermaid Avenue). Those albums define Wilco – all are masterpieces. Although they have not had a bad album, I would argue that the next seven studio albums (including Cousin) are non-essential. The “essential theory” doesn’t require the albums to be in sequence, like the Wilco example, but that is often the case.

What do I mean by “essential?” An essential album is an album that defines the band and resonates with a fan base and music critics. Most recording artists never have an essential album. When a recording artist does have an essential album it is a big deal. An artist rarely has more than one and even rarer to have multiple essential albums. Wilco is in the esteemed category of having a long string of essential albums. I would argue that they have never made a bad album – merely good albums that are overshadowed by masterpieces. The essential albums make up the core of their catalog.

I recently was turned on to two legacy bands by late-career albums that fans and critics might consider non-essential: The National (2019’s I Am Easy To Find) and Drive-By Truckers (2022’s Welcome 2 Club XIII). These two albums opened the door for me to the bands. I agree there is a core (essential) catalog, but these late-career non-essential albums are still important. In the case of The National, I prefer the late-period albums.

When Wilco released Cruel County without warning in the spring of 2022, I was delighted. It was a pivot back to the Americana music that was their foundation. Although it was not an innovation, it was executed so perfectly that it was as good as anything in their catalog. Despite its excellence, it is hard to argue it is more important (essential) than their earlier works.

Cousin is a pivot back to the experimental spirit of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/A Ghost Is Born era. Like Cruel Country, it is not an innovation, but a perfect execution of Wilco.

Cousin is the first time, the band used an outside producer since 2009’s Wilco (The Album): Cate Le Bon. She is a Welsh musician and record producer (e.g., Deerhunter, Kurt Vile, and Devendra Banhart). Per Wilco’s leader Jeff Tweedy:

“There aren’t a whole lot of white male rock groups that feel vibrant in any way to me. I don’t know what they’re singing about. I don’t know what they’re angry about. I don’t know what they care about other than maintaining and protecting their status, and I don’t want that to be the way Wilco looks at itself. It felt really right to ask a woman to produce a record for us because it was an honest way to surrender some of those assumptions.”

From Spin

The collaboration with Cate Le Bon works brilliantly. She brings a new twist on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/A Ghost Is Born quirkiness that is both fresh and familiar. Based on the Spin article quoted above, the band truly gave the keys to Le Bon and let her drive. The results are a beautiful yet challenging album that is as strong as anything in their catalog despite not being a new innovation. Le Bon appears to have helped Wilco be Wilco. As a bonus, the album is sonically lush – beautifully engineered and mixed.

Here are some quick tales on each track:

• “Infinite Surprise” – welcome back weird Wilco (i.e., Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/A Ghost Is Born era).
• In “Ten Dead” Wilco captures the sadness of our time: another mass shooting and the only sensible response is: “I woke up this morning / And I went back to bed.”
• “Levee” is beautiful gloom.
• “Evicted” without sounding anything like Prince, I couldn’t help thinking about Prince’s “Raspberry Beret.”
• “Sunlight Ends” has the rich sonic vibe of Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark – slick in a good way.
• “A Bowl and a Pudding” has a Nick Drake feel with an ample dose of George Harrison.
• “Cousin” demands to be heard live – it has a nice Tom Petty jangle at the end.
• “Pittsburgh” opens like a Tweedy solo song but quickly goes YHF only to return to the quiet solo acoustic sound and then back to YHF – it is an inspired volley between the two styles.
• “Soldier Child” classic Wilco Folk Rock with a The Ventures guitar riff.
• “Meant to Be” opens like a New Order dance jam only to turn into pure Wilco.

Wilco is one of my favorite bands. They have never disappointed me, but they have underwhelmed me. Cousin is a delightful addition to the Wilco catalog and not underwhelming. The addition of a Cate Le Bon as producer adds a tasty spice to the Wilco hotdish. The fact that a legacy band, nearly three decades deep in their career, is creating material that demands repeated listens and has me craving to hear it performed live is impressive. I would comfortably use Cousin as a calling card of the band to potential fans. Hopefully, it will do what The National’s I Am Easy To Find and Drive-By Truckers’ Welcome 2 Club XIII did for me – open up the rabbit hole to a wonderful recording artist and their catalog to new fans.

The vinyl edition is a nice quiet pressing. It doesn’t sound significantly different from the high-resolution stream. It does have a nice warm analog sound – the digital sharp edges have been rounded. This is a beautifully recorded and mixed album and both the digital stream and vinyl versions deliver that beauty.

POSTSCRIPT: It’s been a few months now since Cousin came out and it still sounds great. I am starting to up my appraisal. This is a consequential album. “Ten Dead” captures the dread of hearing of another mass shooting. Sonically, this album is a mature update of the YHF aesthetic. There is a bias toward the prettier side of Wilco – which is prettier than ever. They sound fully engaged in making art. Every listen reveals and I am impressed. Feeling lucky that a bunch of mature bands are still productive (Wilco, The National, Drive-By Truckers, Dylan, The Stones, etc.). Wilco is entertaining the hell out of me and making me think.