My Morning Jacket pulled it off. They have officially won me over. Recently signed to RCA, they released their third full length to surprisingly, a lot of press coverage. After giving this a couple run throughs, I can clearly see why.
Starting the record off with a twangy trill from a guitar and vocals with more reverb than you can shake a silo at(his vocals for this whole record were recorded inside a silo), it sets off from the beginning to seperate who is in and who is out. The opening track, "Mahgeetah," will make you want to grab your significant other or closest available girl, take a swig of beer and head out to the dance floor. The band does not hesitate one bit when it comes to rocking out. Guitar solos, cowbell, big finishes. All that and I haven't gotten past the first track?!
The second song, "Dance Floors," slows it down a bit but still rocks out with a piano line that plays in the background and sneaks to the forefront to cap off every couple measures. When the "jam" comes into full-swing, a Blues Brothers esque horns section is added and the band turns the volume up to the max. The lead guitarist lead the band down, all the way to a pianissimo before leading the crescendo back into a fortissimo with a sax solo closing out the song.
There are drawbacks to the CD. The vocals being recorded in the manner they were makes them have a weak presence at times. This is most apparent in the songs "Golden," "Master Plan," and most of the slower paced songs. With the upbeat tones, it gives it a live feel, as if it were in an auditorium. The beginning of "Run Thru" sounds a whole lot like Led Zeppelin, which isn't a drawback at all. Just an interesting thing to point out. "Rollin Back" makes me think I am at prom in the 1950's. "Steam Engine" should definetely have been the closer. They could have scrapped "One In the Same" altogether, especially since the record runs an hour and 12 minutes.
There are several standout tracks on this record. "Mahgeetah," "Dance Floors," "I Will Sing You Songs," "Steam Engine" all come to mind but I must say, my favorite is "One Big Holiday." This song is a rollercoaster of dynamics and shows just how good this band is. Starting off soft with hi-hats and a lone guitar, it blossoms into a full song, completely different from the intro. It finds itself revisiting the ideas laid down in the intro when the band goes full force into the end.
Sure My Morning Jacket won't have any huge radio singles. They won't blanket MTV with their country-folk offerings. I think they have the potential to be one of the bigger cult followings in music though and am excited to see what they have to offer up next. I'm sure we won't have to wait long with them, knowing their track record with EP's and such.
