Album Review: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Before you push play, click play, or touch play (depending upon what level of technology you prefer your music be filtered through) and begin listening to Evil Urges, wipe clean any preconceived notions about what you think a My Morning Jacket song should sound like. On the band’s new LP, set for a June 10th release, Jim James and company blend the familiar with a departure from convention and continue to stretch and flex their sound, as well as James’ vocal chords.
For those with a more trained ear, the departures are a natural next step from what the band started to explore on Z. This is the first time, however, that they display such a difference in tempo, sound and style between songs on the same album. Fans shouldn’t worry though, this isn’t like the 78′ BMW in front of your apartment that drives you nuts with its red body and a blue hood. The contrasts here are in balance, and coexist in a state of symbiosis.
The first song to touch your ears, the title track “Evil Urges”, is a microcosm for the mood of the album as a whole. It begins with an introduction that has shades of Radiohead’s “Subterranean Homesick Alien” and Jim James singing in a rarely heard falsetto that he continues throughout. These new sounds are countered by a familiar jam section that one can easily see being extended by many minutes in a live performance.
Evil Urges is anchored in the middle by a set of traditional sounding Folk Rock beginning with “I’m Amazed” a song that gets back to James’ beautiful middle register vocals and reverb sound that the band cultivated in Kentucky. They toy with a country sound in “Thank You Too” and every more so on “Sec’ Walkin” before returning to harder rocking in “Remnants” which is highlighted by great linear guitar hooks and solo work.
My favorite moment on the album and the first time I really lost motor control of my extremities and just had to start moving my feet and head came during “Highly Suspicious”, which initially channels 80s Hip Hop before it drops heavy guitar distortion on every down beat. The vocals are a cast of two different characters and the dichotomy between James’ high pitched hero and the low growl of the antagonist helps to frame the story that the lyrics are telling, which hints at governmental paranoia and deep Orwellian themes. (Excuse a brief aside: When you’re jamming to a song on the train and you’re getting weird looks from someone who is dressed like a dominatrix, it gives you pause to reevaluate things.)
The album closes with an 8 minute electronica inspired opus called “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Part 2″. The song ends with an abrupt scream from all members of the band which could be construed as a cathartic release of the stress and conflict most groups of artists endure when collaborating on a single piece of art.
Listening to an album for the first time with too analytical an approach can be a different and sometimes unnatural journey, one that could have you question your heading and check your course an exorbitant number of times, missing the scenery while your head is stuck in the map. This album is somewhat stylistically fractured track by track and could be described as struggling with its own identity; however, it is best navigated as a whole work, whose risky and artful contrasts serve to give the audience a sense of what the band is capable of, and potentially what they have in store for the listener in the future, a sonic warning shot across our collective bow.
Rating: 
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I’m nearing the end of the album as I started writing this and I’m for the first time thankful for it. I enjoy MMJ immensely, but this album is sub-sub-par.
“At Dawn” and “The Tennessee Fire” were not particularly my cup of tea, but both heralded great promise, and, for me, every second song was something I could enjoy, not love, but enjoy regardless.
“It Still Moves” was brilliant. This was the potential beginning to be fufilled. “Golden” was the only iffy track there for me - I am not a fan of country music generally, and this is no different - while the rest persuaded me to air guitar. “Dancefloors”, “One Big Holiday”, “Run Thru”, “Steam Engine” are some of the greatest tracks and are easily in my top fifty.
“Z” was a bit of a surprise. The craziness of “Wordless Chorus”, “Off The Record” and “Into The Woods” threw me for a loop initially, but I grew to love it. Tracks like “Lay Low” and “Dondante” were what I craved from MMJ and “Okonokos” delivered the live versions better than I could have hoped for.
“Evil Urges”; I had high hopes for it. The title sounded interesting, the track titles peculiar.
The title track is obscure and immediately gives us the impression that the old MMJ has passed on. After the five minutes of the track, I found myself disappointed. The promise that “Z” held for MMJ and their experimentation is unfilling here.
“Touch Me I’m Going To Scream” and “I’m Amazed” are the only two tracks up to track nine that I’ve truly enjoyed.
“Highly Suspicious” is random, catchy, but still on the lower end of the previous albums’ less interesting works. Jim James’ voice - one of my favourite aspects of the band - is mutilated here, however. The backup vocals are… strange, as is the random manical laughter. Still, I can find myself listening to this again despite this. This will definitely be a hit or miss track.
“Sec Walkin’” is boring, just plain boring; “Look At You” is dull and plain; “Thank You Too!” has little interest either; and “Two Halves” is pretty much the same as the others. Not a good middle section, people.
“Librarian” is a tad odd. The sex fantasy is something we’ve probably all had cross our minds, and a song about it would either be awesome or appalling, but this finds the middle ground. It isn’t uninteresting, but it isn’t something you want to hear again quickly, either.
Having just finished it, I enjoyed “Alumunium Park”, but I have a funny feeling that is because it is better than the wrecks before it.
-time passes-
“Remnants” is a nice return to more typical MMJ territory. I can find myself tapping my foot to this one.
“Smokin’ From Shootin’” has a slow start, but then picks up and is something I’d listen to again, definitely. It has a catchy mid-section and a nice closer.
“Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2″ is epic. It starts of hauntingly from the close of “Smokin’ and Shootin’” and enters this catchy, foot stompin’ riff nearly ninety seconds into it. Jim James sounds excellent in this song. Around 2:30, we get a weird set of sound effects on top, which are both distracting and, eventually, intriguing. This plays out over eight glorious minutes - though the ending is quite lackluster. The first six and a half minutes of this song alone has made the album worth treking through. This track is a keeper, people.
“Good Intentions” is a useless addition that lasts four seconds. God knows why this is on here. It doesn’t offer anything to the album. We have screams and someone saying “Okay, cool” to end the album. Riiiiiiight. Thanks for that one.
In the end, “Evil Urges” is a real hit and miss album. There are decent tracks, epic tracks, and disgustingly dull tracks in these fifty-five minutes. Some will certainly enjoy it far more than I do. I apologize to them for the negative review - I am a massive fan, and pray they one day visit Australia on a tour - but I can not find myself enjoying this album anywhere near as much as the rest. For the first time with MMJ, I leave the room disappointed.
Must Listens:
Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pts 1 & 2
I’m Amazed
Remnants
Smokin’ From Shootin’
i’m glad i’m not the only one hearing the “subterranian homesick alien” bit in “evil urges.”
You review makes me long for a copy in my hands…..
Jun 23rd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
[...] My Morning Jacket sometime soon? Don’t count on it. After spending the last year releasing Evil Urges and then touring the globe in support of it, the Louisville rockers have reportedly decided to take [...]
Jun 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
[...] My Morning Jacket sometime soon? Don’t count on it. After spending the last year releasing Evil Urges and then touring the globe in support of it, the Louisville rockers have reportedly decided to take [...]
Jul 13th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
[...] stop to listen, regardless of the depth of the details. Besides, after 2007’s much-acclaimed Evil Urges and their epic performance at last month’s Bonnaroo, who hasn’t gotten caught up in the [...]