Mermaid Avenue Volume 2

When Billy Bragg and Wilco were first let loose on the Woody Guthriearchives for 1998’s Mermaid Avenue, the novelty of the project grabbed our attention. Putting music to previously unheard Guthrie lyrics was a left-field idea, and we gave them extra credit just for carrying it off. But for Round Two of this experiment, the novelty’s worn off—and thank God. This time around, Bragg and Wilco are less reverent, taking license at times to stray wildly from Guthrie’s country/folk idiom. There’re still a few acoustic winners here (“Remember the Mountain Bed,” “Stetson Kennedy”) but the guys don’t think twice about dashing down the same paisley-pop roads Wilco explored on their last album, Summerteeth (“Secret Of The Sea”), or making bold turns towards raucous roadhouse rock (“All You Fascists”) and loud, dirty blues (“Hot Rod Hotel”). People blather on about this artist or that artist writing timeless songs, but Guthrie’s work has been put to the test—twice—and passed with flying colors.