My Morning Jacket - Z
By: Patrick Vu | Category: Album Reviews | 12/02/05 | 08:53 AM
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 Grade: B+ |
Genre: Alt-Southern-Rock
Summary: Whether or not super stardom is in their future remains to be seen, but as long as they continue to mature with their music (and they will) brighter days are still ahead.
If Neil Young suddenly went Alt-Southern-Rock, he would be heading up the Louisville Kentucky quintet, My Morning Jacket. Widely known within indie circles, mainstream audiences my have noticed their alter-ego, Ruckus, performing Skynrd's southern fried classic "Freebird" in Cameron Crowe's latest melodrama, Elizabethtown. Missteps aside, their fourth full length album, Z, has been creating a mild stir on the CMJ retail charts with their meshing of sounds spanning the music spectrum from reggae to R&B to ambient...all under a sourthern rock umbrella. With more keyboards, sturdier guitar riffs and the freedom to experiement, Z takes the jacket off My Morning Jacket to reveal a band who's not afraid to challenge themselves and their audience. |
Their previous release, It Still Moves, might as well have been singer Jim James' ode to Neil Young because of how easy it is for you to picture "Shakey" behind the mic. This time around, you still picture Young when listening to Z, but rather on a poster in the background with his arm around Radiohead's Tom York. Is it a coincidence that Radiohead producer, John Leckie is behind the mixing board?
Z opens up with "Wordless Chorus," a song out of left field that displays their curiosities for something new but still keeps things true to their style. Singer Jim James' could be the love child of Young and York as his pitch is a perfect blend of the two for this low-lit track. It's ambient rock equipped with R&B crooning smothered in My Morning Jacket charm.
Z begins to fade back into their familiar sound on "It Beats for You" and "Gideon" with just enough blandness to make you miss the infectious "Wordless Chorus." No worries because it's a short detour that quickly gets back on track.
Reggae is the order of the day on "Off the Record" and is made even more effective with XTC-ish vocals. It's the most 80's Brit Rock tune on Z and is a departure from the southern flavors for which My Morning Jacket has become known. That is the reason why Z is a triumph over It Still Moves because as this band grows so does their musical explorations. It's not always a good idea to jump into a whole different genre, but My Morning Jacket are able to tread that line quite nicely.
"Into the Woods" is an echoey merry-go-round ride at the local carnival that meanders it's way into your psyche. It's not all fun and thrills with the opening lyrics, "A Kitten On Fire. A Baby In A Blender. / Both Sound As Sweet As A Night Of Surrender. / I Know It Ain't Easy - But You Do What You Can." Good times.
Z winds things down with "Knot Comes Loose" and "Dondante" which continue to reflect various selections from the Neil Young Catalog. However, there's no mistaking the two as My Morning Jacket definitely define themselves as artist and musicians.
Singer Jim James, bassist Two-Tone Tommy, drummer Patrick Hallahan, keyboardist Bo Koster, and guitarist Carl Broemel really have something going here and are slowing gaining the recognition they deserve. Even losing original members Johnny Quaid and Danny Cash who just "decided they didn't want to spend their time working in a band heavily on the road," they still managed to regroup with Koster and Broemel and have been making wonderful music ever since. Whether or not super stardom is in their future remains to be seen, but as long as they continue to mature with their music (and they will), brighter days are still ahead.
Release Date: October 4, 2005
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