Uncle Tupelo - "Sinko"

Yet another "What if the band had stayed together" album. This time around I looked at what could have been Uncle Tupelo's fifth album had the main songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy managed to keep it together for one more recording.

In the real world, Jeff and Jay couldn't stand each other by the end of the promotional tour for Uncle Tupelo's final album, Anodyne. Jay formed a new band called Son Volt, and Jeff and the rest of Uncle Tupelo reformed as Wilco.

In creating a new Uncle Tupelo album, I used six tunes each from Son Volt's and Wilco's debut albums, Trace and A.M.

1. Windfall

2. I Must Be High

3. Casino Queen

4. Tear Stained Eye

5. Box Full of Letters

6. Route

7. Shouldn’t Be Ashamed

8. Pick Up the Change

9. Drown

10. Loose String

11. Out of the Picture

12. Passenger Side

From Trace, I included "Windfall," "Tear Stained Eye," "Route," "Drown," "Loose String" and "Out of the Picture" (all written by Farrar). From A.M. I included "I Must Be High," "Casino Queen," "Box Full of Letters," "Shouldn't be Ashamed," "Pick Up the Change" and "Passenger Side" (all written by Tweedy).

I think this actually flows together fairly well. Could this have been Uncle Tupelo's big breakthrough? We'll never know of course, but it's interesting to speculate. Trace charted higher than any Uncle Tupelo album, and A.M. was received highly by critics and fans while not selling as well when it was released.

I titled the album Sinko as a play on the word "cinco" and this being what could have been the band's fifth album, and the fact that the band was falling apart.

For an album cover, I found this picture online of the old clock in the town square of Belleville, Ill., where Uncle Tupelo was formed. Unfortunately, the photo was a bit small. Maybe I'll try to replace it later with something better.

Here's a YouTube playlist of the album.