There are only so many bands that I can listen to and experience a complete, unadulterated joy. My Morning Jacket are one of those bands. There is a joy in their song writing, in their lyricism, and in their playing that endears me so much that they have become by far one of my favourite bands. So today, it’s my duty to give you a rundown of their material to attempt to relate the joy I experience when I listen to them. Here’s hoping I don’t cock it up…
My Morning Jacket released Z in 2005 and that album was my gateway into the world of MMJ. It would be easy to say that this was their definitive album, and that I came in at just the right time, but that wasn’t exactly the case. In a lot of ways Z was the best MMJ album, but there were elements of their sound that just weren’t present here. It’s by far their most ‘rock’ album, but their nouveau-country vibe, that was present at their beginnings, and in their current work, didn’t really feature on Z.
Singer Jim James’ trademark, reverb-laden vocal was still the centrepiece, but the country was only hinted at. It was, at its core, a full-on rock record. Standout tracks, of which there are many, would have to be the opener ‘Wordless Chorus’, the furious ‘Anytime’, and the majestic ‘Dondante’. It was a great album to come in on, but it wasn’t until 2008’s Evil Urges that My Morning Jacket struck the perfect balance between rock, country, and pop.
The album opens with its title track, and the song kicks in with what is perhaps the biggest sounding drumbeat ever heard. It’s not ‘stadium’ big, it’s just powerful, tight, evocative; everything that symbolises MMJ. A similar opening can be found in ‘Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 1’, and the result is nothing short of brilliance. Hip-Hop elements were brought into their sound here with the combination of the quick kick drum hits, synth pads, and interjecting guitar lines.
Evil Urges does err on the side of cheese at times also, a characteristic that is often synonymous with acts that dabble with the heady mix of hip-hop and country music. A perfect example of this is on Highly Suspicious. Hopping bass combines with an elevated vocal line from James and the result is a track that, although somewhat tacky, still showcases their genius.
Iffy tracks like this are forgotten when faced with the majesty of some of the other songs they have written. On Evil Urges, ‘Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2’, ‘Thank You Too!’, and ‘Remnants’ all jump out, but there are such a great number of truly amazing, uplifting songs throughout their whole back catalogue, that it’s impossible to discuss them in such a short article.
I’m quite aggrieved that the band haven’t had much of a following in Ireland. The band played a sold out show in Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve two years ago while, earlier that same year, they played Oxegen to a handful of people at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. During that show they only performed six songs, and there’s no sign of them coming over again for a bigger show. But I suppose that it’ll just have to be enough that their music exists and that, with all of the music in this big crazy world, we were lucky enough to find each other.
To see how I felt when I first encountered MMJ, check out the episode of American Dad dedicated to the band entitled ‘My Morning Straightjacket’.
Published on Drop-D.ie, 4th July, 2011
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