"HEAVY METAL DRUMMER" WILCO (2002)

For the month of November, I’ll be selecting songs in conjunction with the music Twitter challenge: #WelcomeToTheOccupation.

One of Wilco’s hallmark sounds as a band is the intermittent cacophony that comes in the middle of several of their songs. It’s a technique that I’ve heard a lot in jazz as well as with experimental bands like Velvet Underground. The intro to “Sweet Jane” transcends the accessible to the experimental. In the early 21st century, Wilco created an identity doing this their own way – often involving guitars and pedals. On “Heavy Metal Drummer”, the cacophony is handled mainly by the drums and synthesizers.

In the cacophony, we catch an audio glimpse of the heavy metal drummer themselves. An innocent, nostalgic and irresistible look back at a summer. Love. Music. And KISS covers. Lots and lots of KISS covers. What’s not to like? “Heavy Metal Drummer” is one of the more accessible tracks off the legendary Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but that’s not to diminish any of its merits. The lyrics, in particular, are superb. A story that puts you there on the boardwalk under the hot, scorching sun. I can picture it and I feel like I vicariously experienced it.

“SHINY, SHINY PANTS AND BLEACH-BLOND HAIR. A DOUBLE KICK DRUM BY THE RIVER IN THE SUMMER.”

"ASHES OF AMERICAN FLAGS" WILCO (2002)

This month on Twitter, @sotachetan hosts #BrandedInSongs – which is a head-on collision of my personal world of music and my professional world of branding and advertising. The challenge is to simply pick a song with a brand name in its lyrics or title. I added one more criteria to my picks, which is this: the songs themselves must be as iconic as the brands they mention. No filler here.

One of my favorite Wilco songs happens to reside on an album full of outstanding tracks. On Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, “Ashes Of American Flags” falls on the more languid side of the spectrum, a change of pace from the “I’m The Man Who Loves You”, “Heavy Metal Drummer” and “War On War” type-fare. The song’s identity is steeped in that unique Wilco maneuver of pairing super simple melodies with unexpected, experimental musings, which is why I love it so much.

The words on this song feel like a stream of consciousness. I can’t quite follow or make sense of Tweedy’s lyrics. But it seems to work despite that fact. The lyrical ambiguity matches the instrumental approach of starting with simple guitar strums and drumbeats before these elements are taken over briefly and unexpectedly by an alien-like arrangement at the 2:26 mark. Wilco has become so good at this that whenever another band tries to do something similar it just feels fabricated and fake. “Ashes Of American Flags” is the real thing.

“I could spend three dollars and sixty-three cents On Diet Coca-Cola and unlit cigarettes.”

"POT KETTLE BLACK" WILCO (2001)

I started Mental Jukebox nearly three years ago at the beginning of the pandemic. During this time, I’ve discovered new music, rediscovered old favorites and I’ve met passionate music fans around the world. And when things opened up, I kept on blogging. This month, the jukebox goes deeper. The term “deep cut” has multiple meanings. It can refer to lesser known album tracks from well-known artists. It can also refer to tracks from lesser known artists. This month, I’ll be featuring both types. #DeepCutsFeb

The paradox of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’s timing is both chilling and redemptive. Released one week after September 11, 2001, this album flew under the radar for several months. While the world was turned upside down, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot seemed to turn things right side up, but in the experimental Wilco way. It’s regarded as one of the finest albums of the decade. And, like many music fans, it’s my favorite Wilco record hands down. The songwriting, introspective and immersive. The experimentation and the risks, uncompromised. And the melodies, they feel almost effortless. That’s the case with heralded tracks like “Jesus, Etc.”, “Heavy Metal Drummer” and “War On War” as well as with deep cuts like “Pot Kettle Black”.

There’s an immediately familiarity to it thanks to the borrowed riff from The Cure’s “In Between Days”. As a music fan, this never made me angry. Quite the opposite, actually. I’m always happy to hear it. It’s an unexpected surprise that gives the song an endearing quality. Was it intentional? Perhaps Tweedy’s lyrics are an admission: “Every song's a comeback. Every moment's a little bit later.” At the two-minute mark, “Pot Kettle Black” seems to transform into a two-bit video game, grounding the moment in deep nostalgia. Like “Heavy Metal Drummer”, it’s a song that brings you back in its own unique way.

“Every song's a comeback. Every moment's a little bit later.”

"IMPOSSIBLE GERMANY" WILCO (2007)

For the month of October, I’m taking the #OctAtoZBandChallenge challenge. The premise is simple. Pick a band starting with the day’s assigned alphabet letter and then choose a song from that band.

Day 23

The Wilco catalog is massive. Part of me wishes I could take a break from work and family responsibilities so I can hide somewhere cool like the inside of an empty theater and play every single Wilco album in full. I hope that I would immerge inspired and convicted to never again solely play Yankee Hotel Foxtrot into the ground again. One of my concert buddies must’ve sensed this tendency in me and took me to see Wilco at the Beacon Theatre in NYC five years ago. The set list contained 29 songs, dipping and ducking into various eras of the band’s work. It was awe-inspiring for sure. It was the first time I heard “Impossible Germany”, and it wouldn’t be the last.

If there’s such a thing as a quintessential Wilco song, this might be it. Mid-tempo, highly melodic, and privy to moments of experimentation. While many Wilco songs contain their characteristic cacophany interludes, “Impossible Germany” took a highly unusual approach to the guitar solo. Nels Cline, on his first album with the band, brought his jazz background to the alt country agenda and surprised us with a minimalist approach. It almost feels like the guitar solo is missing notes at first, but then as we keep listening, we hear, appreciate and are blown away by the build-up.

“With no larger problems that need to be erased. Nothing more important than to know someone's listening. Now I know you'll be listening.”

"HEAVY METAL DRUMMER" WILCO (2002)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 6

That innocent, nostalgic and irresistible look back at a summer. Love. Music. And KISS covers. Lots and lots of KISS covers. What’s not to like? “Heavy Metal Drummer” is one of the more accessible tracks off the legendary Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but that’s not to diminish any of its merits. The lyrics, in particular, are superb. A story that puts you there on the boardwalk under the hot, scorching sun. I can picture it and I feel like I vicariously experienced it.

“Shiny, shiny pants and bleach-blond hair. A double kick drum by the river in the summer. She fell in love with the drummer. Another and another. She fell in love.”

"I'M THE MAN WHO LOVES YOU" WILCO (2001)

Each day in December, I’ll be reflecting back on a song from the 2000’s. The decade saw the return of post-punk and the popularization of folk music, all while some of music’s biggest acts gained their indie footing. Thankfully, it’s a period that I can look back at fondly without cringing. #31DaysOf2000sSongs

It’s hard to believe it’s already been 20 years since the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Released just one week after 9/11, the landmark album ushered in a new era for Wilco, one where they shed their alt country roots and embraced a new experimental rock bent that earned the ears of many music listeners, including mine. Songs like “Jesus, Etc.”, “Kamera” and “Heavy Metal Drummer” are timeless favorites of mine. But one track, in particular, from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot felt like the definitive statement of this new period of creativity: “I’m the Man Who Loves You”.

Like a cross between Jimi Hendrix, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and a mad scientist, this track felt more like a dangerous experiment than a song. Haywire guitar interludes and horn blasts headlined a series of instrumental cacophonies, which became trademark effects of Wilco. “I’m the Man Who Loves You” sounds like it was born inside a factory that maybe didn’t pass all its inspections. It’s a reminder that often the best rock music out there is the kind that pushes limits and creates moments that we never saw coming.

“If I could you know I would.”

"KAMERA" WILCO (2001)

A musical monument of the 2000s, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot first made its appearance one week after 9/11. It’s the album that put Wilco on the map. I had the pleasure of hearing a few of the songs performed live. But “Kamera” was always one of my favorites. It didn’t have the experimental side. No musical cacophony explosions on this track. But it displayed Wilco’s chill, folk side as good as any other song they’ve written.

“I need a camera to my eye, to my eye reminding which lies have I been hiding.”

"HEAVY METAL DRUMMER" WILCO (2002)

“Heavy Metal Drummer” has the honor of being one of the best tracks on one of the best rock and roll albums from the last 20 years. It grabs you with that accessible melody, but draws you in with those delicious signature Wilco elements. My favorite aspect of the song though has always been that innocent and nostalgic look at summer. Love. Music. And KISS covers. Lots and lots of KISS covers.

“I sincerely miss those heavy metal bands. I used to go see on the landing in the summer. She fell in love with the drummer. She fell in love with another.”