My Morning Jacket Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
For those who weren't convinced by Z's left-hand turns, Evil Urges cements My Morning Jacket's transformation from grizzled, reverb-drenched classic rockers to experimental, genre-bending innovators. There's always been a slight disconnect between the band's image and sound; frontman Jim James once howled his melodies behind curtains of long hair while lashing at his Flying V guitar, looking like a Metallica roadie while sounding like Neil Young in an echo chamber. But 2008's Evil Urges -- with its diversions into funk and prog, its falsetto vocals, its eclecticism -- is a different animal entirely, perhaps the furthest My Morning Jacket have ever sounded from the Southern psychedelia that launched them ten years prior. The bandmates look different, too, having trimmed their bushy beards and unruly hair for the photos that grace the album sleeve. Physical appearances may have little to do with this group's sound, but the clean-shaven look further challenges the world's perception of My Morning Jacket, a band that was once lumped into the same down 'n' dirty rock bin as the Drive-By Truckers and Kings of Leon. The members of My Morning Jacket now want to occupy their own orbit, and Evil Urges is as spacy as it gets. "Evil Urges," "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 1," and "Highly Suspicious" comprise the opening lineup, which jumpstarts the album with 13 minutes of sexy, tripped-out electro-funk. James slips into a falsetto during the title track, his voice clear and reverb-free as he coos in a bedroom whisper. "Touch Me" bubbles with interstellar keyboard effects and harmonies -- for the stoner contingent of MMJ's audience, this is the logical place to fire up the bong -- while "Highly Suspicious" delivers the album's biggest shocker, mixing James' best Prince impression with bizarre lyrics ("Tapping your lines, peanut butter pudding surprise!") and bursts of laugher. It's the kind of polarizing song that fans will either love or loathe, and given its prominent spot in the track list -- batting third, a spot usually reserved for heavy-hitters -- it's obviously meant to elicit a strong reaction. But that seems to be the crux of Evil Urges; after years of being shoehorned into various genres, My Morning Jacket have put their collective foot down, insisting that they're not a neo-psychedelic outfit, an alt-country group, a jam band, or the contemporary torchbearers of Southern rock & roll. They're none of those things -- or perhaps they're all of those things, as Evil Urges offers the widest swath of musical fare in the My Morning Jacket catalog. There's rock & roll ("Aluminum Park," "I'm Amazed"), country ("Sec Walkin'"), rootsy pop nuggets ("Two Halves"), ballads about sexy bookworms ("Librarian"), and the aforementioned trips into Funkytown. "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2" concludes the album with eight minutes of kaleidoscopic sound, and Evil Urges ultimately ends the same way it began -- with a willingness to explore, to challenge, to poke and prod at My Morning Jacket's past work while creating something new. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
A lot has been made of the Okonokos DVD, My Morning Jacket's live concert film, recorded at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium (and which accompanies this double-disc release separately). The live performance DVD is so seductive and powerful -- because of the lush backdrop set and wonderfully immediate manner in which it was shot as well as the music -- yet the double CD that accompanies it and the four-LP vinyl set on Badman Records of the same recording seem to get scant attention. Sure, they are mentioned, but somehow just as geegaws to accompany the DVD. Wrong. It all comes down to the music, after all, and the Louisville, KY, quintet gets that big time. It's why the CD was issued first and the DVD came later. The DVD should be seen; it's gorgeous, it's wild and woolly and beautiful all at once. But Okonokos the CD is one hell of a live record. Certainly, since it was recorded on the tour for the incredibly successful album Z, it concentrates on a lot of the band's more recent material. But they dig deep, too, and go back to 1999's "I Think I'm Going to Hell" from The Tennessee Fire, as well as "The Way That He Sings"and "It Still Moves" from 2001's At Dawn, and "I Will Sing You Songs" and "Mahgeetah" from the It Still Moves disc in 2003 to close the entire show. There have been references to Neil Young & Crazy Horse, in terms of how My Morning Jacket work as a band; don't believe it. My Morning Jacket have the spontaneity and raw wiry energy to be sure -- they don't try to cover the flubs -- but they're infinitely tighter than those loud garage yobs who believe that playing slower than cough syrup with codeine is a virtue (Crazy Horse stopped being a viable unit when Danny Whitten died; they're merely the contradictory and uneven backing band for Young because he's not ambitious enough to get a new one). The sheer musicianship that My Morning Jacket put on display on this intense, diverse, and focused live show is rather astonishing. Sure, they know how to "jam" and could have blown the doors off most of the bands in that genre had they been dumb enough to go down that path. (One listen to the 11-minute "Dondante" is proof enough that they could have been the new Grateful Dead or some such creativity-killing notion.) Like England's Gomez -- the only band currently in their league -- they were smart and weave it all into the mix of hooks, lyric flourishes, and power chords. They have the indie rock mantle prominently displayed but are as tight as U2 -- and, no, they don't sound like them. In fact, as the evidence here clearly displays, My Morning Jacket sound like no one but themselves. Frontman Jim James is as charismatic and self-effacing as they come. Guitarist (and also saxophonist) Carl Broemel is a lyrical monster as both a fine melodic improviser and as a rock & roll lead guitar player. Listen to the way he handles "Gideon" and "Lowdown," and blows sax at the end of "Dondante." The three-piece rhythm section of Bo Koster's understated but emotionally and technically taut keyboards, Two-Tone Tommy's bass playing and baritone vocals, and drummer Patrick Hallahan is inventive, spot in the pocket, and full of surprising twists and turns. Near the end of disc two, where a drawling, dreamy, 11-minute "Steam Engine" (with all the solos) gives way to the stomping honky tonk rock of "Dancefloors" in a performance worthy of Lynyrd Skynyrd's One More from the Road, the picture would be complete if the Band were included as guests. My Morning Jacket are a band at the pinnacle of their power. Like great jazz musicians, they've learned to instinctively play together and make the most of every number. "Mahgeetah" sends the whole trip out on a sweet note. The feel-good rhythm and bluesed-up country-rock groove pours out so naturally and transcendentally that it's no surprise that the audience and band have bonded; they turn into something more, somehow, as they leave the Fillmore building than when they entered. Okonokos is one of the best live recordings of the last 30 years. The DVD experience is an addition, a welcome and aesthetically innovative one that adds depth and dimension to music played so soulfully and good-naturedly that it's almost impossible to think it could have been improved upon. Get both. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
In 2004, a dreamy cover of "Rocket Man" concluded My Morning Jacket's first volume of rarities. Which was prescient, because it's Elton John that Jim James' songs for 2005's Z first bring to mind. From the wistful recollection of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" to Honky Chateau's melodic and genre explorations, John's ability to mesh styles and take detours within his sturdy pop songwriting applies to James here, particularly in the expansive opener, "Wordless Chorus," or the initial happy-go-lucky lilt of "Off the Record." Z is My Morning Jacket's fourth full-length (and second for ATO), and it's the one that might finally jump-start the reaction that James' music has always deserved. It Still Moves from 2003 rightly enjoyed its accolades, but it meandered a little structurally, too, and sometimes got a little lost in its own reverb. On Z, MMJ's traditional influences are present -- the folk, blues, and country tones of John, Neil Young, and the Band shaded by contemporaries like Mercury Rev and Mark Kozelek. But songs like "Lay Low" and "It Beats for You" are crafted tighter, their sound-drenched keyboard lines meeting the percussion head on and riding meaningful flourishes of electric guitar. "Gideon" climaxes in James calling out throatily over twinkling piano and big chords borrowed from the Who, and "What a Wonderful Man" is a raucous, crashing tumble of unhinged crash cymbals, barroom piano, and mirthful yelping. Z is intuitive, intensely creative, classicist-minded, nearly flawless. It's music that's extruded from Jim James' id, and that's bearded, too. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's a beautiful thing to know that Brian Wilson is still alive and well in the kingdom of indie rock. My Morning Jacket's third full-length effort, and first for the ATO/RCA venture label, is a step beyond the band's work for Darla. While the gorgeous amalgam of the Band's vision of country/Americana and Neil Young's blend of folk and rock are everywhere present, there is a new textural awareness evident on It Still Moves. Jim James' songwriting is tighter in structure, but his production sensibility is early-'70s Laurel Canyon, with some of the Grateful Dead's American Beauty tropes as well. Sounds like a mess, doesn't it? Well, it's not. Wearing your influences on your sleeve doesn't mean unoriginality. James is an original songwriter; he has worked hard to develop the gifts inherent in his lyric concerns and his ability to paint emotional landscapes with his melodies, and the payoff has never been greater. "Mahgeetah," with its Pet Sounds ambience and country-rock melody -- complete with fuzzed-out guitar solo -- is far more imaginative than anything Wilco ever pulled off by trying the same thing (which they do over and over ad nauseam). "Dancefloors," with its biting Telecaster lead line that echoes "Baby Don't Do It" and the Stray Gators' country majesty, is full of warmth, depth, and Levon Helm's soul. And "Golden," which is the third track in this opening triad, brings James' love of Tim Buckley and Fred Neil into the light. But all of these elements of construction are read through James' Kentucky and his unique melodic gift, where fragments becomes entire lines become songs with stunning bridges, achingly poetic lyrics, and a country boy's sense of whacked-out humor and tenderness (check out "One Big Holiday"). The horn arrangements on "Easy Morning Rebel" make the country shuffle into a near R&B tune with an old-timey stroll through a shambolic rhythm track. In all, My Morning Jacket may be a journey through the past, but it's also a solid step into something rock & roll has been missing for an awfully long time in the mainstream arena: melody, extremely catchy and well-written songs that aren't afraid of the mainstream, and a love of the great pop continuum that translates into something new. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On their second album for Darla Records, My Morning Jacket sound perfect. That is to say, they haven't changed a bit, and we like them that way. At Dawn is full of the same strumming acoustic guitar, hauntingly treated vocals, elements of country and blues, and everything else that made The Tennessee Fire a magnificent country, rock, and Americana stew. When bandleader Jim James sings, "We start this time with open ears," you know you're heading into familiar territory, as open ears were what you needed the first time you took this trip with James and the rest of My Morning Jacket. Open ears led you through the stark and beautiful landscape of The Tennessee Fire, and now they take you on a similar trip, from the sunshine of "Lowdown," "The Way He Sings," and "Just Because I Do" to the rainy day appeal of "If It Smashes Down" and "I Needed It Most." Echoes of Galaxie 500, For Stars, and classic Americana (Neil Young, the Band, Dylan, the Velvet Underground, etc.) find their way into this record to varying degrees, but they seem to float along lending help and comfort, rather than showing themselves directly. Like Belle & Sebastian, My Morning Jacket's songs have remained essentially the same, and At Dawn is the sound of a band hitting its stride. ~ Terrance Miles, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
My Morning Jacket is a four-piece band from Louisville, KY, led by singer/songwriter Jim James. The songs on Tennessee Fire (Darla 1999) evoke warm (and somewhat lonely) memories of a gothic country night. Electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, lap-steel, drums and bass all join his unique (Neil Young meets Wayne Coyne) voice in a huge pool of reverb. At first you wonder if the sound will overtake the songs, but after the first chorus you realize that the beauty of these simple and emotive songs is only enhanced by the addition of this effect, and by the end of the first song, you can't even tell that it's there. Released to (world) wide critical acclaim, Tennessee Fire provides proof (200 proof) that heartfelt American music is alive and well, and living in KY. A must for anyone who loves the sound of alt-country mixed with wide-open spaces. ~ Terrance Miles, All Music Guide
