Jun 03 2008 11:51 am,
3.5
My Morning Jacket
'Evil Urges'
(Rough Trade)
Reggae. Jim James has really lost it this time. On 'Highly Suspicious', an 80s proto-pop bop, he basically sounds like Prince, backed by the chorus from Future Of The Left's 'Fingers Become Thumbs'. Then there's 'Sec Walkin', a
Nashville standard! Try and count how many wowy-wobbly slide guitars there are! "Left lane, right lane/One leg at a time, I keep on walkin’,'" gurgles Jim like a mid-whiskey Ron Burgundy, while the band gather round his desk to wail country-hoedown harmonies. Aside from the desperate attempts to sidestep expectations and make a record that's just, well, weird, MMJ have actually made a sturdy-but-bland stride MORwards. So come on Jimmy, into Your Morning Straitjacket. One leg at a time, eh?
JJ Dunning
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