My Morning Jacket: A Retrospective

For a band who's album Z saw critics claim they were ‘doing a Radiohead' (in a time when that meant departing from their set sound and exploring other musical avenues, not giving away your album for free), it seems perhaps fitting that My Morning Jacket's new release Evil Urges has seen their old record label RCA, through their ATO imprint, re-release their back catalogue now the band have moved on to Rough Trade. It seems to be a similar move to EMI's repackaging of the aforementioned Radiohead back catalogue: a cynical move by a record label to squeeze the last they can out of the band and cash in on the excitement generated by the bands new album. It would be interesting to know if the records have been re-released in the US, where the band remain on ATO. Unlike many of the re-issues coming out at the moment, which often have bonus tracks, demos or in some cases DVD's to make the items more appealing to the fans, this series of releases remains the same as it was the day they first hit the shelves. Still, that isn't to detract from the music made by the Louisville space rockers, nor the releases themselves.My Morning Jacket allegedly got their name from a jacket found by lead singer Jim James in the burnt out shell of his favourite bar. The jacket had the initials MMJ on it, and it seems the band went from there. The bands early recordings The Tennessee Fire and At Dawn were released through the Darla imprint, but 2003 saw the release of It Still Moves, their major label debut. As ever with the switch that comes to a major, there was a fear amongst fans that the band might ‘go big' and change the sound that had made them so special. However, It Still Moves proved them wrong, continuing the melodic country rock that the band had become known for. Jim James' voice still sounded like it had been recorded in a barn, the reverb was still very much to the fore, and the bands fusion of the likes of The Band, Lyrnrd Skynrd and The Byrds with a pinch of soul for good measure continued. The albums opener ‘Mahgeeta' , all swinging drums, lush harmonies and twanging arpeggio guitars is an undoubted highlight here. ‘Golden' sees the band turn to the acoustic for a rolling country number, the sort of shuffling rhythms and crooning that Richard Hawley has had so much success with in recent years. The dreamy harmonies and pedal steel that bring it to an end lull the listener into a feeling of laid back ease. This feeling doesn't last long before the soul comes to the fore, with the Shaft hi-hat intro of ‘One Big Holiday', a good one minute of tip-tapping and twinkling guitar, before crunching into an epic with plenty of hooks, the guitar line getting tangled up in your memory long after the album has finished. Speaking of soul, one of the benefits of the major label budget comes on ‘Easy Morning Rebel', which half way through becomes brooding, thanks to the addition of the Memphis Horns (old session men who played on many Stax records sessions). The stop start dynamics and ‘big drums' that appear throughout the album suggest a band who know how to work a crowd, Springsteen style (i.e. pauses in the song to give the audience time to roar, slow clap, or sing a long). There are parts, however, where the record begins to slip by however. When the vocals start on ‘I Will Sing You Songs', James comes off like someone doing an impression of Wayne Coyne doing an impression of Neil Young. The reverb heavy sound and slight backing don't really ever go anywhere, and at over nine minutes is an indulgence. However, as a whole there is much that shows promise on the record.The band followed this with a 5 track acoustic live EP, Acoustic Citsuoca, allegedly recorded ‘Live at the Startime Pavillion, October 31st'. This is yet another strange piece in the MMJ Puzzle, as the show never seems to have taken place (certainly not according to the extensive archive on their own website- seriously, as someone who works in an archive, and has been on many a tour, I'm impressed that they have managed to catalogue their set lists all the way back to 1999). It is clear that MMJ feel most at home live, and it is worth noting that those not satisfied with a double album and a 5 track acoustic ep, that the band also link to Archive.org, where you can find over 163 live recordings to download, with the band noting on the website: "I'm totally down with the free sharing of live music as long people are not being taken advantage of, and this thing looks pretty good to me." As for the EP itself, it begins as a stripped down band, before ending with three solo run throughs with just James and an acoustic guitar. A world away from the lush sound of the proceeding record, but testament to the abilities of James as a performer. The version of ‘Golden' here is actually preferable to the original, the stripped down nature giving it an added fragile quality, not quite present on the recorded version.2005's Z is considered by many to be My Morning Jacket's "O.K. Computer". For the first time someone other than Jim James was at the controls- John Leckie (who had previously produced the likes of Radiohead, The Verve and the Stone Roses). The band also acquired a new member in Bo Koster, adding keyboards to the already rich texture. Never ones to sit on their laurels. 'Wordless Chorus' kicks off proceedings, a reggae tinged, keyboard led number, almost entirely devoid of guitar but for a muted arpeggio here and there. The production swirls around, and James vocals are allowed free reign. The falsetto howls at the end see the singer move on from the Neil Young styles, and is more akin to the soul power of the likes of Curtis Mayfield. The big change from ‘It Still Moves' is that the band no longer sound so laid back. The record is infused with a more brooding feel. It is as if relinquishing total control freed James to concentrate on songwriting, and as a result the songs are much more taut. This tautness highlights the spacier elements and brings the best out of both parts. The brooding ‘It beats 4 U' (perhaps a Prince reference after the vocal histrionics that ended the previous track) showcases this new found tautness within the band, the scattershot drumming keeping all elements under control, but then giving way to a more spacey leadout with some of the best whistling this side of Andrew Bird. The new production, and James development as a songwriter means the pop element to the bands music is allowed to come to the fore, and also becomes more Epic (with a capital E). Nowehere is this more true than on ‘Gideon', with its spacey swells, HUGE drums and guitar stabs. When the piano kicks in a minute before the end it is clear how far the band have come. The ambition displayed here is huge, and to be honest, had this song been released with Chris Martin or Bono providing vocals it would have been a Top Ten hit. ‘What a Wonderful Man' seems almost an apology to fans for the slickness and epic nature of what has gone before- a return to the country rock roots (all be it a turbo charged, chaotic version of what had been before). ‘Off The Record' comes back in with a twangy, Clash-go country feel, with a bit of Hawaii-Five-O thrown in for good measure, before petering out in to a quasi-dub shuffle. After this point the album loses its way somewhat, offering some pretty standard ‘rockers' that return to the bands jam-band days. The problem with the bands new found epic nature is that at times it delves into the self-indulgence of progressive rock when it goes wrong. It is perhaps a sign of this ‘prog rock' tendency that when the band appeared on Letterman to promote the album, they came with the ‘Boston Pops' orchestra in tow, and later went on to play a whole show with them at Boston Symphony Hall.The 2006 tour also saw the recording and release of double live album and dvd Okonokos. In keeping with the bands new found Epic (again, capital E) sound, the album was recorded at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco. The big drums of Z become even bigger live, and the riffs heavier, as the reverb gets toned down. ‘Gideon' comes across as every bit the ‘smash hit', and the band become Coldplay more and more as the song progresses. The three part hit of ‘It Beats 4 U', ‘Gideon' and ‘One Big Holiday' is pretty much as strong as you can get from MMJ, and the added crunch of the live arena certainly adds a little. However, the point here is it only adds a little to a band that has always sounded like a ‘live show', even on record. The only difference here is the Springsteenisms have been upped a notch, and James' voice becomes ever more ragged when the falsetto or extended parts kick in, no more so on the clap along intro and piano hits of ‘What a Wonderful Dancer in the ...' I mean ‘What a Wonderful Man'. In fact ‘What a Wonderful Man' showcases all the problems with this record- James oversells the vocal, and the band descend into noodling to often. At parts Okonokos descends into the very worst Zepplin-esque noodling. ‘Dondante' overstays its welcome to the tune of 12 minutes and ‘Run Thru' somehow manages to be even slower than the original unti it collapses into a proggy heap halfway through, guitars squealing, the drummer entering the ‘tub thumping' school of drums. Even the classic ‘Mahgeeta' seems overblown and overdone. For a band that have built such a fantastic live reputation, the album is something of a disappointment. There is no crowd interaction, and only the occasional deviation from the well trodden path of excess. Perhaps those tracks on Archive.org give a truer sense of the band in a live setting.In all there is a lot to love about My Morning Jacket, but from this selection, they are yet to channel all of their best elements into one coherent recording. Still, it sets up expectations for Evil Urges, and for their imminent live appearances on these shores.It Still Moves - 72% Acoustica Citsuoca EP - 68% Z - 76% Okonokos -55%[Download My Morning Jacket back catalogue]Links My Morning Jacket [myspace] [official site]