Weird Tales, the second album from alt-country supergroup
Golden Smog, while in theory a collective banging of the guitars, basses, and drums of its principal players, is actually a series of solo tunes by those artists fleshed out by a backing band consisting of like-minded, and extremely capable, performers. That doesn't make it any less a fine- or well-intentioned album, it's just not the one-for-all, all-for-one group project that it's built up to be. Think of it as the
White Album process: everyone (including members of Run Westy Run,
the Jayhawks,
Soul Asylum,
Big Star, and
Wilco) gets a chance to toss a tune or two into the consolidated song bin and let the gang go at it. And as expected, the best songwriters here (
Gary Louris of
the Jayhawks and
Wilco's
Jeff Tweedy) contribute
Weird Tales' most solid tracks. A pet project aimed more toward fans of the genre than the casual listener,
Golden Smog nonetheless deliver the goods with a good deal of twangy heart and soul. ~ Michael Gallucci