LOOSE FUR
Born Again in the U.S.A.
Drag City
· Jeff Tweedy and Jim O’Rourke get their ’70s rocks off.
Recorded alongside Wilco’s 2002 masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Jeff Tweedy and Jim O’Rourke’s side-project as Loose Fur acted as a depository for songs a bit too weird for a proper Wilco album. Pieced together in the shadow of 2004’s A Ghost is Born, on which Wilco held a precarious balance between rock, roll, and experimental noise, Loose Fur’s second attempt, Born Again in the U.S.A,. is a surprisingly straight-ahead 1970s-minded album of relatively wank-free road songs.
While those expecting even further exploration of Wilco’s boundary-pushing rock might find themselves mildly disappointed, Born Again in the U.S.A. holds together impeccably well. "Hey Chicken" is perfectly dumb riff-rock, while "The Ruling Class" is a playful re-imagination of Jesus with a crack habit. O’Rourke’s contributions range from the smoky regret of "Answers to Your Questions" to the biblical kid-rock of "Thou Shalt Wilt." Stripped of intellectual muso over-think, Loose Fur have become as fun as they initially threatened to be.
Last time around, Loose Fur did the best they could with grand-minded leftovers. Born Again in the U.S.A., on the other hand, signals the return of a band taking itself as seriously as it should.
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