SUMMERTEETH

Wilco: Jeff Tweedy (vocals, acoustic, electric, baritone, bowed, tremelo & 12-string guitars, harmonica, toy harp, synthesizer, bass, tambourine, claps); Jay Bennett (acoustic, baritone, E-bow, electric & lap steel guitars, banjo, tiple, piano, organ, Farfisa organ, keyboards, synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, slide bass, drums, bells, tambourine, percussion, claps, background vocals); John Stirratt (piano, bass, background vocals); Ken Coomer (drums, timpani). Additional personnel: Dave Crawford (trumpet); Leroy Bach (piano); Mark Greenberg (vibraphone). Engineers include: Larry Greenhill, Mike Hagler, Dave Trumfio. Moving beyond A.M.'s Uncle Tupelo-oriented country-rock, Wilco's double-length BEING THERE explored the sonic vistas of the Stones and Big Star. SUMMER TEETH takes things a step further. A loose, inspired masterwork of rootsy power-pop in the grand mid-'70s tradition, it's the greatest album Alex Chilton never made. With perfect pop melodies and a knack for throwing things askew via left-field sonic elements, this is as far from the country as Wilco could be. Jeff Tweedy's ragged-but-right voice is the essence of rock & roll--the travails detailed in the lyrics seem undeniably his own. Though his days of paying homage to Acuff-Rose seem long gone, Tweedy and his compatriots still sound engagingly organic on SUMMER TEETH. Even if they're closer to Badfinger after a few beers than to the post-Tupelo alt-country of Tweedy's former partner and Son Volt leader Jay Farrar, Wilco are still treading the same path they started years ago, obviously headed in the right direction.