Sukierae by Tweedy (Album)

Tweedy – like father, like son

Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy has formed a band with son Spencer and the resulting album will please fans old and new

riginally intended as a Jeff Tweedy solo album, but eventually recorded with his new band Tweedy (featuring son Spencer on drums), Sukierae is a 20-song behemoth of an album, clocking in at over 70 minutes. Named after, and dedicated to, Jeff’s wife Sue, it is both comfortably familiar and expansively sprawling.

Lo-fi country numbers such as Pigeons, Low Key and Honey Combed are the type of front porch ballads you might expect of a Tweedy side project. Elsewhere his full musical palette is explored; from the rocky album opener Please Don’t Let Me Be So Understood through the beautiful harmony led Low Key and the trippy dreamscape of I’ll Sing It.

The real revelation of the album may well be the Mitch Mitchell-style drumming talent of Spencer Tweedy. He particularly excels on the time shifting Diamond Light Pt.1 and brings plenty of rolling thunder to World Away. Throughout the album, h’s the perfect accomplice for his father and brings a very palpable sense of freshness to the project.

All in all, Sukierae is an album that should appeal to Jeff Tweedy’s existing fans as well as gain him a few new ones, and will help pass the time for those who are desperate for a new Wilco album.

Verdict: A vast and rewarding collection of gems

Duncan Haskell

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