Wilco's "Summerteeth"
offers plenty to chew on
$$$$1/2

If one line sums up Wilco's brilliant new release, it would be "what you once were isn't what/you want to be anymore" from the track "Shot In The Arm."

The trailblazing St. Louis group continues to lose the alt.country tag and move toward presenting music with a wider appeal. And "Summerteeth" is no less than a pop gem.

From the opening track "I Can't Stand It" and its gloomy message ("our prayers will never be answered again"), you can see that this isn't exactly the most happy CD on shelves. The next track "She's A Jar" features the line "she begs me not to hit her." "ELT" presents the couplet "wishing that you were dead/I didn't mean to be so disturbing." And perhaps the best line of the album on the ballad "Via Chicago": "I dreamed about killing you again last night/and it felt alright to me."

And yet all of the above songs have a certain understated beauty to them. This is not the hate/shock rock of Marilyn Manson and that less-than-talented ilk. These are truthful lyrics hinting at frustration, disappointment, and anger; words reflecting feelings the average person can identify with in some way.

This is a great album, easily listenable from front to back. Very laid back in presentation, with unusual sonic effects at times, but mostly pure pop. "Shot In The Arm" is tremendously catchy, "Via Chicago" brings you along on its captivating ride, and "Pieholden Suite" is a short masterpiece in three parts that reflects what contempory pop would sound like if written in suites the way classic music is.

There are 16 musical tracks in all -- including two unlisted tracks, one of which is a fun yet unhappy ditty, the other being an alternate take of "Shot In The Arm." About an hour of music, but it just rolls along as pleasantly as the cadence of a babbling stream.

It's certainly my early candidate for album of the year. What the easy-to-like "Summerteeth" may lack in bite, it makes up for by being a rare album where every morsel is a tasty one.