ANOTHER FINE DAY - GOLDEN SMOG
While “Another Fine Day” may sound more cohesive than the pseudo-supergroup’s previous two full-length releases, that ultimately means little because these songs simply don’t stack up to their predecessors. Be it a result of limited time, improper focus or not enough elbow grease, the material often sounds haphazardly created and just undone. To be fair, the goal seems different as memorable ditties take a back seat to artier pieces. While Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy was MIA for much of the process, a couple of tracks ironically fade out in a haze of “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”-worthy noise, their codas a virtual swarm of robotic wasps. Soul Asylum member Dan Murphy’s revved-up “Hurricane” is all pop-punk foreplay, one of many songs that leave you frustrated. The melancholic “Listen Joe,” by the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris and Tweedy and dominated by the latter’s two-minute solo, is the brightest moment on a sadly average disc. Billboard
