It's not fair to disparage Tweedy for a nearly 40-year run of consistent above-averageness with several sustained points of near genius. In terms of artistic output, it means every album, WARM included, is worth at least a passing engagement with, and could be the fodder that turns a lookie-loo into an acolyte. Which song will tempt you to move to the Berkshires on this record? Likely "I Know What It's Like," if you're old enough to remember when Rolling Stone went to standard-size print format, but possibly "How Hard It Is for a Desert to Die" if you're old enough to remember when Rolling Stone employed Matt Taibbi in his Vampire Squid era.
But here's the thing about being very good at something for a very long time: only the freaks and true believers can truly chart the minor shifts in plate tectonics. Tweedy hasn't had a seismic shift since Star Wars, and if he sounds comfortable as hell on WARM, it's because he's very comfortable being very comfortable (I should say, for posterity, that 2025's triple album Twilight Overdrive is the kind of earth-moving rumble that makes someone sit up and remember how good ol' Jeff has been). You could make it you whole life's project to just listen to Tweedy and it would be time well spent, in the same way that a life of eating only chicken caesar wraps would provide you with both flavor and nutrients. In closing, I skipped lunch today.
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