My Top 1000 Songs #651: Looking Forward To Seeing You

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.] 

Golden Smog are one of the few super-groups actually deserving of the title, an act whose songs are often as great--if not better--then those if its members' better-known gigs. Which is saying a lot when you've got Wilco's Jeff Tweedy as well as members of the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, and other indie/Americana fellow travelers. One of my favorite tracks, though (from 1998's truly superb Weird Tales) is contributed by guitarist Kraig Johnson of Run Westy Run--a band I have to confess I'm not familiar with. 

Smog has catchier, more immediate tracks, but "Looking Forward To Seeing You" is just endlessly amiable, one of those "nice" songs you find yourself using to kick off countless mixtapes and playlists. (Or at least I do.) It's a slightly country-tinged pop tune sporting some twangy guitar licks and lovely harmonies (Johnson & Tweedy, I believe)... but it's mostly just really sweet, the perfect welcome to roll out when friends stop by and you reach for the stereo. And you can never have too many "nice" mixtape songs, can you?

Live 2022:

Jayhawks live, 2015: