Grade: 96/100
Illinois native Jeff Tweedy is no stranger to music. In fact, calling Tweedy “intimate” with music would be a gross understatement. Having recently celebrated 20 years with his band Wilco, he has long been in the hearts and ears of his fans. Tweedy has made a name for himself as a titan of alternative and rockabilly music, innovating musical style and turning the way albums sound on its head.
After two decades with Wilco and a handful of side projects like Loose Fur, Golden Smog and collaboration with Mavis Staples, Tweedy has teamed up with his 18-year-old son Spencer to form a twosome, known simply as “Tweedy.” “Sukierae” is the duo’s debut album, which also marks the premier of Jeff’s solo career.
The album’s opening track, “Please Don’t Let Me Be So Understood,” is a raucous, heavy-chorded rocker whose title acts as a reference to both 1960s British rock band The Animals and probably alludes to the song “Misunderstood” from Wilco’s second album “Being There.” Clocking in at a quick minute and thirty seconds “Understood” explains Tweedy’s worries of being too simple and conventional.
After “Understood” is the popular “High As Hello,” which features the lead singers of indie pop darling Lucius, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig. Jeff’s dusty crooning lilts up and down alongside the sharp sliding of his guitar chords. Wolfe and Laessig’s vocals surge in at the chorus, lifting up Jeff’s voice and interspersing the crescendos between sections of relaxed electric guitar. “High As Hello” has gained steady notice since being performed live on “The Tonight Show.” Wolfe and Laessig appear on additional tracks, performing on eight of the album’s twenty songs.
The considerable length of “Sukierae” as a double album offers Jeff and Spencer plenty of working room to stretch their legs musically. The tracks show a bridged expanse between the old and new schools of Spencer and Jeff’s sensibilities. The song “Honey Combed” has a pinging synthesized opening whereas “Flowering” shows Jeff’s long-time inclination towards rockabilly songwriting. This amicable combination is not unusual for Jeff. Multi-instrumentalist Nels Cline’s new age technical prowess was shown clearly on Wilco’s latest release, “The Whole Love.”
“Sukierae” holds immense promise for fans of Wilco and Jeff’s work. If Tweedy continues in its success as such a power duo, much can be said for both the future of Wilco as a group and Jeff’s partnership with his son. After months of anticipation, “Sukierae” is out and it plays exactly how you would think: the folky, end-of-summer brainchild of Illinois’s favorite loner.