My Morning Jacket - 'It Still Moves' (RCA)
4/5
By: Joshua K
When it comes to recording traps, two often hit your favorite new bands. The first, more well-known, is 'the sophomore slump': when the artist's second album falls way short of expectations raised by that killer debut. The other, we refer to as 'the curse of the majors': when a promising band on a small label signs to a major-label and lets access to label cash and 96-gabillion-track recording studios bollocks up their sound.
Which brings us to psychedelic alt-country purveyors My Morning Jacket, who've made just such an indie-to-major leap for the release of their third LP, 'It Still Moves'. Thankfully, singer/songwriter Jim James & company have done it right... sticking to the methods they know best - the studio they built at guitarist Johnny Quaid's grandparents' farm - while using their newfound position to grow in ways that matter: the supporting talent they can now attract.
So album-opener 'Mahgeetah' and latter-song 'Just One Thing' are probably closest to the 'vintage MMJ sound' - a combination of languid pacing and echoed vox that nod towards Neil Young fronting Wilco. But even these sound crisper than similar past efforts, thanks to the expert mixing and mastering skills of big leaguers Danny (Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick, Soul Coughing) Kadar and Greg (David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Strokes) Calbi.
And things really start to get interesting as early as track two, 'Dancefloors', which is truly 'Freebird'/'Sweet Home Alabama'-esque with its piano and Willie Mitchell horn arrangements, and a markedly southern boogie-vibe eventually replicated on the equally chipper 'Easy Morning Rebel'. Also noteworthy are 'Master Plan' and 'One Big Holiday', which find the band finally channeling their inner Crazy Horse on record, letting loose in-studio much as they do live.
The result is a warming, diverse record that is both progression enough from previous masterpiece 'At Dawn' to please MMJ's current fans and accessible enough to (deservedly) grow their following. Yes. Ignore the Jacket-racket to your own glaring disappointment.
Artists in this article: My Morning Jacket
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