It is hard not to compare Loose Fur's Born Again in the USA to Wilco. Loose Fur is comprised of Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche and Jim O'Rourke, all current members of newly-discovered-by-the-masses Wilco. However, anyone who has followed Wilco's career knows they have undergone numerous permutations. Starting as a rootsy Americana rock band, Wilco shifted and mutated with each album into a mature rock band interested in sounds and textures, complexity and synthesis. They are the high art of contemporary rock 'n' roll.
But Loose Fur is back-to-basics. Born Again is fun: It rocks like kids in a basement jubilating over a new guitar or a newly-formed band that meets in a garage and can only play The Clash covers. From the first licks of the electric guitar in the kick-ass opener Hey Chicken\—which includes tambourines, heavy percussion and, yes, even a cowbell—it is clear that every effort has been made to have a good time.
No real effort has been made to write particularly meaningful lyrics, complex melodies or to give any sense of coherency to the album itself—but it does not matter because the second track, ""The Ruling Class,"" is a breezy folk-pop parody of the Second Coming of Christ, who ""got tired of hanging around"" and is apparently ""drinking beer, just trying to get down.""
There are a few softer spots on the album—O'Rourke's ""Answers to Your Questions"" is a haunting look at a failing relationship, ""An Ecumenical Matter"" is a quiet instrumental jam that is very hypnotizing and hard to skip and a few songs near the end are a bit more low key, but overall the album is upbeat and energetic. ""Apostolic"" is a simple but in-your-face slam on religious zealots, ""Stupid As the Sun"" is another simple but undeniably cool song, recalling a White Album-era Beatles tune and ""Pretty Sparks"" is an exercise in balancing calm verses and chaotic choruses through battling electric guitars and wild percussion. One particularly memorable moment comes from a non-Tweedy song, ""Thou Shalt Wilt"" by O'Rourke, in which he quirkily contemplates the Ten Commandments (""Number four is such a pain / This Sabbath thing is so arcane / I don't want to disagree / My only day to sleep in late!"").
Ultimately, Born Again will not go down as a classic album, and Loose Fur will certainly be a footnote to Wilco in the book of rock history. It has plenty of flaws, like the less than subtle criticisms of the religious right that never quite get fleshed out, and while the songs are catchy as hell, none of them (save maybe ""The Ruling Class"") are really exceptional. But for 40 minutes, the listener can kick back, relax and enjoy something Wilco and plenty of other bands cannot offer: an undemanding but infinitely enjoyable rock album.
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