My Morning Jacket
It Still Moves
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My Morning Jacket is clearly an acquired taste. The elongated, cyclic Neil Youngesque vocals. The unequivocal love for wet reverb. The obtuse and sometimes oblique lyrics that don’t always stick to your eardrums. But this is an example of a band that captures a mood in such an original way, that it’s almost impossible to overlook. Love it, hate it, remain neutral, you can’t help but question “who the heck are these guys?” Especially if you see them live, they are supposedly a fuse between the Allman Brothers head banging in flannels like Nirvana.

At first, they didn’t hit me the way they did for Dave Grohl, who proclaimed his love for them in every interview, and put their record on his top 5 list at the end of the year. It was number one on his list. Naturally my curiosity was struck, having respected Grohl’s taste in both the music he buys and the music he creates. So I picked up their acclaimed second disc, and noticed how it seemed to dissipate throughout the course of its running time. At Dawn felt like the morning after. But upon a second listen, it was more of a night drive lullaby. The kind of record that sinks into you as you drive home before the sunrise hits your eyes.

With that proclamation, not a lot of fellow music freaks have shared my glowing praise of the band. It’s stark, moody, whiny, high-pitched folk with a 70s rock edge, drenched in echoes and vocals that seem both sad and optimistic at the same time. They are a hopeful band with a lot of ambition on their sleeve. The slow vibe that infects you, or should infect you, is one that I’ve grown to like upon each time I sit down and listen to it. I’m astounded by the kind of atmosphere it creates.

Their follow-up, It Still Moves, is a continuation with a little more edge. They turn up the amps and even kick on the occasional distortion pedal. They have interludes in certain songs that actually get you moving instead of drifting into a long restful slumber. In fact, the best track sounds like Sunny Day Real Estate meshed with old-school Joe Walsh and turns out to be a pleasant surprise that seems to rock without flashy gimmicks but rather conventional structure. “One Big Holiday” is distinguishable by the unique voice of one Jim James who doesn’t have much of a range rather than extending high-octave notes into operatic declarations of “Better days/From this town/we’d escape.” Not much of a poet, but it’s all a part of the grand design.

“Easy Morning Rebel” even has Memphis horns and a country time signature that makes it sound almost cheesy. But there is a charm to Jacket’s proclivity to branch out beyond their boundaries. “Run Thru” is another stand-out that runs the gamut of off-key lead guitar Slowdive into a rhythm section that I never knew they had in them. It speeds off into a floor-tom driven tribal dance with power chords bleeding from the inside out. It’s a killer track that almost doesn’t belong, but Jacket pulls it off with dignity.

The slight problem with It Still Moves it that although it picks up the pace metrically, it doesn’t hold onto that wistful ambiance that permeated At Dawn to make it such a masterpiece. Jacket fans will rejoice and enjoy this record immensely, but what we have is a solid collection of great songs that doesn’t necessarily fully flourish into an amazing, ear-shattering, eye-opening record. Maybe it’s hard to duplicate the abovementioned third time I delved into, and embraced their sound with their preceding album. Now they seem a bit strained, even with some of the surprises contained here in the long-winded jams. It Still Moves is at times, inviting and relaxing, thoughtful, and manages to create a landscape with its own sky, moon, and stars. However, the record would’ve been better at 55 minutes, instead of 70! At Dawn held onto its consistent awe-inspiring laid-back feel, and never let go. This time they rock, which is appealing and worthy of congratulations. I would encourage anyone looking for an adventure to try any Jacket on whether this record or the last. But I am slightly more impressed with their previous endeavor. Great minds think alike, right Mr. Grohl?

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