Vinyl Vault

It was supposed to be their breakthrough, but instead 1993’s Anodyne was the swan song for the alt-country torch-bearers Uncle Tupelo. Tensions between group leaders Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy led to a split the next year. So was that final album a fitting goodbye for such an influential band? Only a song-by-song review can answer that question.

Anodyne (1993, Sire Records)

Side A

  A1. “Slate”
The clean slate about which Jay Farrar is singing doesn’t seem like a new start but rather the wiping away of any joy he’s ever felt. The fiddle of multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston lays on the sorrow behind Farrar’s imagistic lyrics in this airy opener.

  A2. “Acuff-Rose”
Jeff Tweedy compares the love a good woman to the love of a great country song. Either one “cuts against the tide.” All the while he pays loving tribute to the titular song publishers with one that would make them proud.

  A3. “The Long Cut”
Booming drums, heavy, feedback-drenched guitars, and Tweedy’s craggy voice: This is the alt part of the alt-country equation, as Tweedy preaches patience to his lover even as the music surges forward with reckless abandon.

  A4. “Give Back the Keys to My Heart”
Farrar duets here with Tex-Mex legend Doug Sahm on a song written by the latter. The energy on the track prevents it from becoming just a lazy tribute.

  A5. “Chickamauga”
Farrar’s clever one-liners stand out on a track extremely reminiscent of early R.E.M. My favorite: “I know these things like I know you hate me now.” A couple of blistering guitars solos spice up the mix as well.

  A6. “New Madrid”
“Death won’t even be still/Caroms over the landfill,” sings Tweedy in a typically evocative phrase. The loping beat and playful banjo, traditional country tropes, play well off of these odd lyrical twists and turns in this memorable track

Side B

  B1. “Anodyne”
Farrar’s pieces tend to be more rambling and atmospheric, but this one skirts too close to aimlessness. The title, which is another term for a painkiller, seems to be personified in a girl who does nothing but cause pain, made clear by the singer’s powerful vocal.

  B2. “We’ve Been Had”
Here is a riff-driven rocker featuring some nice harmonies and Tweedy’s eloquent indignation. The Replacements are the obvious influence to cite for this one.

  B3. “Fifteen Keys”
Johnston plays some nice dobro on this driver, but the song never quite comes into focus.

  B4. “High Water”
The steel guitar here is downright unforgettable, and Farrar nails the melancholy mood for which he aims. My only qualm is that it lacks a killer chorus to pull it together.

  B5. “No Sense in Loving”
This mid-tempo weeper is the highlight of the album. Tweedy ingeniously spaces his words out and lets the chord changes and crying steel dictate the mood as he tells the tale of two lovers whose own hang-ups refuse to allow them happiness with each other.

  B6. “Steal the Crumbs”
Farrar gets the last word and sends things out on an appropriately old-timey note with mandolins calling most of the shots. Once again the lyrics are at times frustratingly oblique, but when the two band leaders harmonize on the line “No more will I see you,” the poignancy is obvious and affecting.

The Bottom Line

The consistency of the performances really is what makes Anodyne so special, even if the quirkiness of the two main songwriters makes it one you have to stick with for a while to truly appreciate. Their ability to combine their lyrical searching with their love of traditional music is the distinguishing characteristic of both the album and Uncle Tupelo as a whole.