Loose Fur: Weeding Out The Weekends
New To Me
Loose Fur, hanging out to dry. From left: Jim O'Rourke, Glenn Kotche, Jeff Tweedy.
On a cold January night in 2003, I ventured to a warehouse space just under the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn to see a very sold out, two-night only, Loose Fur show. My friend, a huge Wilco fan, invited me to see frontman Jeff Tweedy's latest project and needless to say, I had no idea as to the importance of this show as I was still only a fan of Wilcos for under a year.
It was a challenging, at times head scratching, organic, bizarre and yet all told a spiritual kind of night. The self-titled Loose Fur album had just come out, so I didnt know any of the songs yet. Iv'e never been to a show where I have been so excited to see them play and yet always on my toes for how the next song will sound. Tweedy, ORourke and Kotche played all the songs from the first album, told a lot of great jokes along the way and it was clear that it was no act as to how much they were enjoying themselves.
As I continued to gain a greater appreciation for Wilco's new direction (under O'Rourkes influence), I began listening to Loose Fur the album more and really appreciating how not one song sounds like the next and all of the transitions within one song. Specifically, I became obsessed with the first track off Loose Fur, "Laminated Cat" (the song that has come to define the Loose Fur sound with it's iconic phrase "Weeding out the weekends").
Hoping that Loose Fur wasnt just a one-time bit of fun for each of its three members, I was thrilled when their follow-up, Born Again in the USA, was released in 2005. This was proof positive that O'Rourke had helped Tweedy to find a new direction with Wilco's music. The title of the album says it all about how Tweedy was feeling: a musician born again, free to create what moved him.
Vitals:
Band Members:
As an experimental side project that Jeff Tweedy formed with producer and collaborator Jim ORourke and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, the band is best described as the Mr. Hyde to Wilco's more controlled Dr. Jekyll.
Conceived:
O'Rourke and Tweedy first began playing together in 2000. Tweedy loved the freedom and often a deconstruction of songs as they progress that ORourke brought to their sessions. Tweedy asked ORourke to produce Wilcos next release. Loose Fur began as two musicians fooling around with different arrangements; ORourke brought Kotche to an early session and a bond was formed. Coming off the heels of 2001s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the three musicians decided to produce some original material. The first, self-titled album was released in January of 2003.
Roots:
O'Rourke resides in New York City, but Kotche and Tweedy both hail from Chicago. Since Loose Fur is a side project, the three musicians get together infrequently. But when they do, there is always a more unbridled feeling of creativity. Most of the Loose Fur recordings took place in New York, however they are on ultra-indie Chicago label Drag City.
Sound & Sounds Like:
Loose Fur is a package deal if you are a Wilco fan. All the experimental changes and improvisation that ORourke helped inspire in Wilcos music are fully realized when Loose Fur plays.
What I find so interesting when listening to each of the Loose Fur records is that they mirror closely the sound of the Wilco releases closest to them. Loose Fur is what Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would be in the Wilco Loft recording sessions. It is clear that Tweedy, ORourke and Kotche stayed late after the other members left the loft and said, What if we just say fuck it and take these songs to another, more free-form level!
Born Again in the USA also feels like an album thats tone was set by Wilcos A Ghost Is Born. With more straight forward rockers and an almost 70s folk and at times arena rock feel, Born Again is a more digestible, if even safer, approach than Loose Fur. Whereas the first album reminds what Velvet Underground or Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys would produce, Born Again is what The Rolling Stones or Neil Young should have been doing in the late 70s or early 80s. There are also a couple of ballads on the album that remind me of a mutation of Nick Drake, Jim Croce and Paul Simon. Some great names, but Tweedy, ORourke and Kotche put their own flair and avant guard energy into some great music. Too bad Loose Fur is just their hobby.
Bar Talk:
It's hard not to interpret the song "Hey Chicken" (off Born Again in the USA) as a massive middle finger to former Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett. "I hear you whisper, I hear you whine / I hear you're hangin on the sour grape vine. Oh why so angry, what's mine is mine / You got resentment, you're sick and tired/Hey chicken, your'e all talk!" Sounds like the no-punches-pulled feelings of Tweedy's take on their fractured relationship, perhaps softened now on the sad news that Bennett died of a drug overdose in May of 2009.
O'Rourke first brought Kotche to the Wilco loft. When he and Tweedy began to play together, it was the beginning of the end for then Wilco-drummer Ken Coomer. Kotche brought a more experimental vibe to the band, which is exactly where Tweedy wanted to go.
Some Loose Fur songs were originally written by Tweedy as Wilco songs, but for whatever reason, they didn't make the cut. My personal favorite is "Laminated Cat", originally called "Not For The Season" by Tweedy. He first began performing the song on a solo tour in 2001; thankfully he didn't let it fall into obscuritynot to mention let O'Rourke and Kotche funky it up a bit.
Essential:
You should be getting them both, but if you have to choose, the self-titled first album is the way to go. Its everything that you would want out of a sequel of Yankee Hotel Foxtrotthe late night screw-around session by these musicians that is better than most groups full two-month effort in studio. Once youve fully taken in Loose Fur, then hit up Born Again in the USA for more fun, jam-band and arena rock style tunes. All hail LuciferI mean Loose Fur!
