I also love the 1999 Wilco album Summerteeth. What does that even mean? "Summer-teeth"?
Summerteeth captures all the joys and fears of growing up; a 55-minute taste of summer according to men in their 30's (probably going through a mid-life crisis). Musically it's an alternative rock album, or perhaps experimental pop. The songs are catchy. The instruments are layered. The lyrics go back-and-forth between generic relationship phrases and beatnik poetry. The sounds often transition from The Eagles to Spiritualized. Tracks like "ELT" or "I'm Always In Love" come off as totally normal. The noise/strings samples on songs like "Via Chicago" or "She's A Jar" only come once in a lifetime. And what the heck is on the album cover? Is that the moon with lips? A desk in the background?
It's a world where a married man dreams of suicide every summer and is frightened of his own front yard. He's afraid of aging and is trying to re-fuel his romantic youth. He's a man who wants to get his relationships right if he could just surpass his mental illnesses. His relationship with his wife, his friends, his family, even God. The album opener says "Our prayers will never be answered again" and the closer says "Let's turn our prayers to outrageous dares." There are moments where he stares at his dishes and thinks about cinematic murder scenes.
As depressing as this all sounds, this is actually a happy album. All these themes are merely poked-at and the music is more often joyful than not. Without the story line, this could just pass as an over-produced set of pop songs. Either way, it's enjoyable. It reminds me of summer. This could possibly just be because I bought it in June 2013. But really- it's hard to say what it is- but this sounds like summer. In front of the laptop-created sounds, you get Jay Bennett's Tom Petty-esque guitars and Jeff Tweedy's sincere, cigarette-abused voice.
I've given Yankee Hotel Foxtrot countless lines of press in my day, but I gotta show some love for Summerteeth. I LOVE SUMMER. Sometimes we get caught up in our worries-- not being who we used to be, failing in the future, always being in love, thinking some girl doesn't love you-- summer bites. But perhaps all you need is one happy song. Or "maybe all you need is a shot in the arm."
A FRIEND OF MINE JUST INFORMED ME THAT THE TERM "SUMMERTEETH" IS A JOKE THAT RIVER GUIDES USE. IF YOU'RE RAFTING AND A PADDLE HITS YOUR MOUTH, SUMMER-YER-TEETH ARE GONNA FALL OUT AND SUMMER-YER-TEETH WILL STAY IN YOUR IN THE BOAT."
"It's all beginning...It feels like it's ending."
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