The alt-country label is more meaningless now than
ever: Jeff Tweedy shifted from Uncle Tupelo's neo-Depression dirges to Wilco's
AM-rock without losing the tag, which speaks volumes. Jim White's latest finds
him successfully navigating all the bases on an increasingly amorphous field. Channeling
label boss David Byrne's knack for musical assimilation, White moves from
micro-genre to genre: It's just a three-song jump from the warm, loping shuffle
of "A Town Called Amen" to the Dandy Warhols-baiting "Crash Into The Sun," with
its "Woo!" shouts and taut horn arrangement. Transnormal Skiperoo is structural
conservatism done right: With Joe Pernice and Michael Deming behind the boards,
White stocks up on strings, dobros, and whatever else the songs can handle.
Whether on the amiably shit-eating "Turquoise House"—"I'll never fit in,
so why should I try" asks White's old-fashioned country protagonist—or the
gorgeously extended ballad "Jailbird," which takes a full two minutes to get to
the chorus, White is a pro at stretching his craft through arrangements while
respecting the long-buried source.