I spent a little more of 14 hours in Chicago one day back in 2017. During a work trip to Kalamazoo, MI a colleague and I escaped a Saturday to the Windy City with the hours counted to enjoy it, and we actually managed to pack a lot in the day. We visited Navy Pier, Millenium Park and the Willis Tower. I bought some CD’s on Reckless Records , we ate ‘Chicago-style’ pizza and we found two far up seats in a Bulls game vs Oklahoma City Thunder (home team lost quite dramatically). Somewhere between those things we walked along the Chicago River, and after childlishly taking a picture giving the finger to Trump Tower, a particular structure caught my attention.

I wasn’t looking for it. Of course I was very aware of alternative country stalwarts Wilco’s origins, but when I saw the Marina City twin towers it clicked. I immediately took several pictures and tried to mimic the cover art for the band’s 4th album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, whose retail release on Nonesuch Records turns 20 years old today.

It’s important to the story of the album to make the distinction between the aforementioned release and the original one, which ocurred in Septemeber 18th, 2001. The band uploaded the whole album to their website after seeing it leaking on file-sharing sites, first planned to be released on September 11th. (Something that also looms over the album, as many people would interpret it as written to the USA after the 9/11 events, but the whole album was written long before). The decision of uploading the record came after the band was ceded their rights to it from Reprise, after Warner Music (which Reprise belongs to) decided YHF had no commercial value in it. In the midst of all this, founding member Jay Bennet was removed from the band after disputes with frontman and co-songwriter Jeff Tweedy.

7 months later, after some offers, the band signed with Nonesuch (another Warner subsidiary) and released Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in April 23rd 2002. Despite being recorded almost two years before, YHF recieved acclaim from critics and was praised by fans, both the ones that had already a taste of it and the ones that didn’t. I think, that was bound to happen. The record came after Wilco made a name for themselves in the alternative rock and country scenes. The dynamism between Bennet’s and Tweedy’s songwriting, the melodic prowess they showed on the preceding Summerteeth and their relatable, often sad stories and recounts had made Wilco a band to watch, closely. Their next move was unpredictable.

None of this came to my mind when I saw those twin towers though. I got quite excited, took the picture (mildly achieved by the way), and walked away humming ‘War on War’. I played the album on our trip back to Michigan, reciting the words I have long cherished, seeing them in a new light, enjoying them once more. Just like I did a few days ago, when I listened to the whole record to write this piece. Aside from the regard it has on the 21st century’s rock music ‘canon’, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is also special for me, a candidate for one of my favorite albums ‘ever’, if I ever was to consider such a ridiculous thing, but it’s the truth.

Mixed and co-produced by Jim O’Rourke (with the band members), famous for his avant-garde approach to alternative rock, YHF is sweet and sour, it has melodies and entrancing moments to spare. It showcases Tweedy’s mental turmoil with bright artistic expression and it judges the home country of its creators with gentle spite, evidencing the USA’s struggle to find its way at the turn of the century. It is a quintessential 2000s album. Cryptic yet engaging, a record drenched in romanticism with apocalyptic tendencies, its burgeoning emotions never hidden. It is somehow, easily replayable.

Tweedy is acidic yet still melancholic in opener ‘I Am Trying To Break Your Heart’, hanging of a changing rhythm and a sparkly piano melody. It is a quite a shocker, with its burbling synths, and greyish intrumental background making it less welcoming than it should be, however it never falls short of entrancing. ‘War on War’ is a tuneful balm with its strummed guitar and proppeling drums solidly reaching an emotional high in the record. “You have to learn how to die/If you want to be alive” sings Tweedy in the chorus, a turn of phrase that is more personal than it lets go at first.

Throughout YHF, instrumentation is varied, but the album’s aesthetic is cleanly maintained. ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’ with its sugary melody and simple lyricism is the song with most ‘radio-playing’ pedigree. ‘I’m The Man Who Loves You’ brings electric guitars, wind instruments and a snarky funk delivery from the band. It is a fun love song too, with Tweedy finding creative ways to express his feelings for the person of his attraction. The heartfelt ballad ‘Poor Places’ is tinged with themes of depression and how it affects a person’s closest relationships and sometimes even the simplest of social interactions.

Few rock albums at the beginning of the opening decade of this century are this solid and consistent. Yes, in those years indie-rock saw a resurgence with bands from all over the place emerging with new and creative ideas, injecting life to a genre that every several years seems to lack impulse to create something beyond its limits. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot reminds me of The Beach Boys in their songcraft, sometimes also Pavement and R.E.M. and even some classic post-punk outfits. And yet, when I think of Wilco, I think of this album, and when I play it I really feel there’s nothing else like it. YHF always manages to grab me, an ability so essential these days and so satisfying in an album concieved two decades earlier.

‘Jesus, etc’ was played by the band when I saw them live on 2020, on their first concert in Mexico, just before the outbreak of COVID-19 secluded us in our houses. The song was bound to be recieved with utmost enthusiasm. It is not an absolute, inescapable pop song, but it is one of Wilco’s most revered songs and, to this writer, one of the best tracks they have ever recorded. Its tune is unforgettable, the insturmentation expertly mixed to add lush strings which bring a dream-like texture to the track. Tweedy’s voice is at its most vulnerable in this song, enriching the ballad with images of chords strung in cheeks, tall-buildings shaking, smoking voices, the last cigarettes. It is ultimately an ode to love and trust. “You can rely on me, honey” Tweedy reminds the subject of the song, which, despite is catastrophic imagery, bursts with affection, like a tune made for lovers at the end of the world.

I’ll never get tired of this song and of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It’s a common statement in these retrospectives, and a little sad, but I can’t say that Wilco has topped it. Yes, predecessor Summerteeth, is a master-class in nostalgic-pop composing, follow-up A Ghost Is Born saw Wilco unleashing their most noisy and arresting songs. Later on they would still manage to pack several great tracks into their records, but the level of cohesiveness and poignancy on YHF has never been reached by the band again. It is their best album, one of the best records this century has given us, a brilliant rock and alternative album and an immaculate showcase of Wilco’s prime and creativity. Everyone of us who have listened to it, appreciated it, loved it, will change, go beyond; Chicago may disappear or radically transform, but Yankee Hotel Foxtrot will live on, embracing every new listener with its imperfect sheen, always reflecting, never resisting.

Every song is a comeback,

Every moment is a little bit later.