yet another indie band is ready for their close-up

On today's mix...
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (2008)

The hype surrounding My Morning Jacket has never been greater than as they release their follow-up to 2005's Z. The blogosphere is abuzz, they were on SNL last week, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them on the cover of Rolling Stone next week. You might expect Evil Urges, then, to simply turn up the volume, streamline the production, and announce their sound to rest of the world, but they've done something more interesting than that. The eponymous opener starts out dark and edgy as the title suggests, but it reveals its true colors at the two minute mark, when the menace melts into a hooky surprise: this is an alt-country song, as much in the vein of Lucinda Williams as the Dismemberment Plan. So much is true of the album as a whole. "Highly Suspicious" is the album's major anomaly, a Korn-style amp-and-chant freak-out that reminds me of the music I spent so much effort avoiding in junior high. However, if the sudden aggressiveness turns you off, the subsequent stretch from "I'm Amazed" to "Look at You" makes up for it with its simple country bliss.

Despite the wealth of simple songs, Evil Urges is never dull. Just as one begins to pigeonhole the album's sound, MMJ slip back into rock mode for "Aluminum Park" and "Remnants". This makes an oddly balanced album, but it never feels abrupt; the transitions are always welcome, and the songs on Evil Urges fits together surprisingly well as the work of a band excited to be recording new material, trying out new sounds. The key ingredients here are simple: the songwriting is always sharp, the band sounds great, and they're having fun. They're having fun, and I'm having fun. The album is an unqualified success.

10/10