MOG

Evil Urges is a lot of things, it's loud, proud of its third funk nipple, and isn’t afraid of flaunting it, but really a band with this many expectations weighing on their shoulders have done the right thing, and made an abrupt left turn into the jungle, it's just that this time, thousands follow them, unaware of the band’s true nature.

The record’s concept, if one can be found, is to embrace new genres and continue the work of evolving their sound as they did on their last album “Z,” only this time instead of trying to inject elements of reggae into their sound, they try for a deep french kiss of Funk and R and B. But unlike on “Z,” there are a few serious missteps.

And that line that I just wrote, “a few serious missteps” for me and many other My Morning Jacket fans that’s a hard fact to swallow. Especially about a band that for many was the savior of modern music, proof that it isn’t all just pre- programmed samples and a copy of a copy of a copy. And that’s the thing about this record, no matter how many other songs make me believe in them - and when NPR played a snippet of “I’m Amazed” after a story on Barack Obama clinching the nomination it brought tears to my eyes - all of that is almost ruined when I attempt to listen to “Highly Suspicious.” It never lasts long before I have to hit that ‘next’ button.

The whole tune sounds like a ruse, a gag, an attempt to push the envelop on what their sounds is and who might find it acceptable, and for the life of me, I can’t separate the rest of the record from “Highly Suspicious.”

This record is what I like to call the Moonraker of My Morning Jacket albums, with its slick clean production, the layer of plastic wrap sheen over every note and bridge. Where once MMJ opened up the tallest doors to heaven by way of Crosby Stills & Nash, Neil Young, the Band, and America, the doors now slide open without any hum, automated by robots, by Kraftwerk and the soul- stripped sound of late period Marvin Gaye, distilled and filtered through Boz Scaggs.

All is not lost in the land of Evil Urges though. Opening track, “Evil Urges” has become a real favorite, with two peak moments, one where Jim James high falsetto belts out clean and strong, in tandem with strings and piano and even though they are by way of a synthesizer, you get that feeling of transcendence that the very best soul records achieve. The second part comes midway into the song by way of an Allman Brothers guitar breakdown. It’s a breath of fresh air that the song returns to the core sound of My Morning Jacket, and all on the first track.

“Thank You Too” has another one of those moments, where you can really hear Marvin in the refrain “Although our world seems, fallen apart.” In this refrain all of the music behind the vocals fly past us, like it does on Gaye’s "What's Going On" and we are flying, through the clouds, allowing us to see a little glimpse of the ground. The guitars, when they do come into this ballad, they slip out of the speakers as effortlessly as on the band's other records, and all is right with the world. The guitar is not lost in Evil Urges, but waits for the perfect time to pounce.

Then that guitar goes one further and dips in a beautiful solo, slipping and sliding like the closing credits, its schmaltzy sure, but still ranks as one of the album’s better tracks and along with “I’m Amazed” and “Evil Urges” these will be the ones that stay with you.

“Sec Walkin” Sounds like Jim James channeling Boz Scaggs on “Dirty Lowdown” and then there’s this weird compression on his voice that’s not reverb, but some sort of interstellar stardust. But it's delivered in such a relaxed way, it seems earnest, it's sun-drenched in reverb and features great falsetto harmonies. Think Marvin Gaye again with a tear in his eye and Stevie Wonder during his Fulfilling-ness First Finale period.

“Smokin from Shootin'” mixes their earlier sound with a futuristic ELO reverb, and it sounds like a band hanging up their old “Tennessee Fire” sound, sitting back and staring into the fire. Brushstrokes in the form of a perfect lap steel bubble up, and it sounds like Jim James questioning his own happiness, a life of missed opportunities on the road. Lyrically, it paints a portrait of a man not unlike Don Quixote, heartbroken, demented and lost. The tone of the song seems dated too, echoing moments radio snips of old Eagles' songs in my head, tender and embarrassing at the same time.

There’s a new-found tenderness to their sound on this record, a lightness of touch missing from their heavier songs, a trait which could seem like a weakness and might contribute to the lack of faith that he speaks of in “I’m amazed”, one of the better songs on the record, one that taps into the yearning for change era of American Politics, and its one of the ones you will find yourself listening to the most. The trademarks of old mix successfully with this robot-themed sound, as Jim James sings about things that amaze him: a lack of faith, a divided nation, the ocean, stuff like that.

It’s propelled by the same rhythm section as many of their classic songs are, and the whole song leaves the listener with another good friend to add to the canon.

“The Librarian” makes me think of a certain lyrical laziness, “since we got the interweb” left me feeling like the making of this record maybe wasn’t their highest priority. For any other artist this track would be a success, and the tasteful string sections is placed just where it should be, but this track shows that maybe the songwriting mechanism might be in need of some oiling. But one success can be mentioned, that about halfway through the song, the strings and the lyrics all come together and it actually sounds like what they were trying to achieve, this emotive soul sound, where Jim James can fully drape around him, to be, without irony, ensconced in his rhythm and blues soul side neglige.

That same airiness prevails on the next track, “Look at You,” and at this point we are in the slow drawn out painful break up mode perhaps, a chance for Jim James to do a bit of bloodletting, and his voice sounds fantastic as he sings “Hope and Glory, let me follow you.”

“Remnants” is maybe the hardest rocking My Morning Jacket song in their entire catalog, which charges forward with a glam-induced sense of urgency, carrying on the rock despite everything else on this record that doesn’t rock. It may stick out a little bit, but we all know that when MMJ play it live the plastic wrap and bleating drum beat sounds will fade and we will remember these songs in their proper context.

“Aluminum Park”, with its Detroit Horn section sound, should by all means work, but to me it sounds like My Morning Jacket are running on autopilot, letting the strengths of a band drag them through the track. The breakdown in the middle of the song is still amazing though, and when this and everything else on Evil Urges works, it clicks together and illustrates just how incomplete the rest of this record feels.

I know what I said earlier, but you’ll find that your expectations will change depending on how much you listen to this record, whether by listening one track at a time, or pulling it apart, and reworking it, changing its intended order, like the Dadaists do or did, or don’t do anymore.

The closing track “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Part II”, what starts out as a great idea, one tailor made for this My Morning Jacket Mach II project, a bit of Space Disco, but when its stretched out over eight minutes the conceit wears a little thin. And what starts out as great momentum leads into a great middle, like dancing on the saddle of a horse, or riding it bareback, rounding the corner of the track on a run,but what could be a victory lap is a slow limp to the finish line.

And what I walk away most with is, along with the unexpected strength in the act of creating powerful ballads with tongue firmly in cheek, the what does it all mean, general lack of coherence this record has. And still after all of that said, there are some real strong songs here, all with the bitter feeling from “Highly Suspicious” lingering in the background like a two day hangover.

I still can't get over the act of using the line “Peanut Butter Pudding Surprise,” as a chorus and my only guess is that it is either a practical joke or deliberate nose dive for the band.

I mean what do they gain by doing this?

All I can come up with is that Jim James, and the band, with all of this scrutiny, decided to have a little fun with a record, and not take every track so seriously. Perhaps the joke is on us the listener then for us having high expectations in the first place, like we set ourselves up for this.

So in the end how do we treat “Highly Suspicious?” as a Bob Dylan self-sabotage hatchet job or a clandestine inside joke?

Maybe I’ve got it all wrong, maybe there’s an alternate world where "Highly Suspicious" is memorized by every spotted teenager wanking away at Guitar Center. God I hope not.

Posted on 06/06/2008