For those who don’t know: Wilco is an alternative rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1994 and built on the ruins of the folk/country band Uncle Tupelo (in which composer and vocalist Jeff Tweedy played in) and while the north American music scenery experimented with the booming of punk.  Maybe these circumstances influenced Wilco’s conspicuous sound that still resonates nowadays. In 2002, the band’s visibility increased with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and due to the polemic rejection of their album by the record label.

Recently, it has been on the soundtrack of Richard Linklater’s movie, Boyhood.

The album Star Wars, dropped on July 2015 and is available online for download, distances itself from their usual country-feel, making it their most eclectic album with a diversity of influences. Right off the bat, the song EKG introduces us to a thrumming guitar noise that brings us back to Pavement or Arto Lindsay. Along the tracks, we notice a few beautiful sways – Random Name Generator has a T-Rex glam punk vibe, Pickled Ginger flashbacks to the garage punk aura and More… combines an Abbey Road feel with a pinch of George Harrison’s guitar. 

Magnetized, a ballad with psychedelic moments finishes the album with a melancholic lyricism that is very characteristic of Jeff Tweedy, like present in How to Fight Loneliness (Summerteeth 1999).

Star Wars had the mastery of uniting familiar melodies with thrumming noises and beautiful arrangements.  And with so many aforementioned influences and legions of artists that Star Wars refers to musically, Wilco’s sound clearly remained Wilco. The band’s personality is present in each track, comforting us even with a thrum every now and then provoking our ears.