What's So Great About Wilco?

A provocative review of the new Wilco on Slate titled "How a spineless rock band became known for its nerve" by Stephen Metcalf. While much of the Wilco hype is due to the fact that there is so little new music emerging that is considered to be exciting and innovative, Metcalf raises a few good points to consider.

"Some consumers, of course, still need to feel as though the music they buy merits, if not exactly landmark status, some claim to cultural importance. Wilco is the band for such consumers; and to help them along, critics have provided the word 'deconstruction.' Deconstruction is now rock-press shorthand for the crumbling of the traditional Intro Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Bridge Solo Verse Chorus song structure. But its real significance has gone unnoticed. Deconstruction is currently doing for Wilco (and Radiohead before it) what it did for literary studies in the '70s and '80s: providing a sense of pomp and excitement during a period of near-total marginalization."

More on the "marginal" music of Wilco and their influences.

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