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Wide Swing Tremolo
Studio album by Son Volt
Released	October 6, 1998
Recorded	Jajouka Studio
Genre	Alternative country
Length	45:34
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Son Volt
Son Volt chronology
Straightaways (1997) Wide Swing Tremolo (1998) Okemah and the Melody of Riot (2005)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Entertainment Weekly	B+
Los Angeles Times
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
Pitchfork Media	7.3/10
Rolling Stone
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
Wall of Sound	82/100

Wide Swing Tremolo is the third studio album by alternative country band Son Volt. It was released in 1998 on Warner Bros. Records.

The album peaked at No. 93 on the Billboard 200.

Production

The album was recorded in Millstadt, Illinois, at the band's rehearsal space. It was produced by the band and engineered by David Barbe.

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly wrote that "many of the songs ... return to the power and purity of the band’s brilliant 1995 debut, Trace. Trouser Press called the album "genuinely mediocre," writing that "the flourishes that had initially made Son Volt uncanny had transgressed into stale formula." The Tucson Weekly wrote that "the songs retain Farrar's downcast approach, but they're extremely well-written this time around; and the band seems to have been reinvigorated, putting a little more into their performances than the cultivated ennui we've become accustomed to."

Track listing

All songs written by Jay Farrar.

1. "Straightface" - 3:02
2. "Driving the View" - 2:57
3. "Jodel" - 0:41
4. "Medicine Hat" - 4:12
5. "Strands" - 5:06
6. "Flow" - 2:18
7. "Dead Man's Clothes" - 2:46
8. "Right on Through" - 3:08
9. "Chanty" - 1:27
10. "Carry You Down" - 3:28
11. "Question" - 4:00
12. "Streets That Time Walks" - 5:24
13. "Hanging Blue Side" - 3:41
14. "Blind Hope" - 3:17

Personnel

• Jay Farrar - guitars, lead vocals, Chamberlin organ, acoustic and electric pianos, dulcimer, harmonica
• Dave Boquist - guitars, lap steel guitar, fiddle, viola
• Jim Boquist - bass, backing vocals, slide guitar (4), piano (7)
• Mike Heidorn - drums, percussion
• Eric Heywood - pedal steel guitar (13, 14)
• Dave Barbe - Kenyan rattle (13)

References

1. "Wide Swing Tremolo - Son Volt | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 600.
3. ^ "Wide Swing Tremolo". EW.com.
4. "Album Review / Pop". Los Angeles Times. October 10, 1998.
5. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1049.
6. "Son Volt: Wide Swing Tremolo: Pitchfork Record Review". April 27, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-27.
7. "Wide Swing Tremolo : Son Volt : Review : Rolling Stone". February 24, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24.
8. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 759.
9. Durchholz, Daniel. "Wall of Sound Review: Wide Swing Tremolo". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 2001-04-15. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
10. "Son Volt | Biography & History". AllMusic.
11. "Son Volt Turn It Up With Tremolo". MTV News.
12. "Distant Rumblings". CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network, Inc. November 11, 1998 – via Google Books.
13. "Son Volt". Billboard.
14. Himes, Geoffrey (September 25, 1998). "SON VOLT'S RURAL ROCK" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
15. Harris, Michael C. (October 1, 1998). "Americana, No Depression, Whatever". Miami New Times.
16. "Son Volt". Trouser Press. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
17. "Tucson Weekly: Soundbites (October 22 - October 28, 1998)". www.tucsonweekly.com.

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