My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"

For the longest time, I really tried to like My Morning Jacket. I really really did.

From the beginning of the band's buzz very early on, I literally had to force myself to understand what all the mouth-watering hootenanny from their uber obsessive fanboys was all about.

"The best live band alive."

"Each song off each record is different and unique, you gotta hear them, man. Fo realz!"

Anyone who was anyone in the taste making music-sphere spoke the world of them, so how could I not at least attempt to see what the uproar was about?

I bought each record of their's since 2001's "At Dawn" and most of the time, I found my self WANTING to like them, instead of finding myself past the point of no return in a profound obsession, like everyone else spurring off about their records.

Beginning with that record, I saw the diamond seeds of something wonderful. Some of those songs were impeccably gorgeous, some of the best songs written from that pre 9-11 time period. "Bermuda Highway" is, to this day, one of the most beautiful songs I've ever listened to. And Jim James' transcendental vocals showcased the most wide-open soul-baring wails I'd ever heard. What an angel voice. A white wolf of super soul! Otis Redding, Etta James, Michael Jackson all put to shame, like THAT! His voice was perfect. TOO perfect. Too pristine and instrumental to sit in a set of headphones with any other instruments around it.

But, the seeds were all I saw, and they weren't sewn. None of the record really bloomed for me. The songs were awesome, but executed much differently than they begged to be. I was totally wowed by the details, but as a whole, the record was just too dusty Kentucky. And it's not that I don't dig some folk or some Band of Horses and Limbeck, because I totally do. But My Morning Jacket were doing the wrong things with their razor sharp talents, and it turned me off where it turned others on. Their grungey southern dirt rock needed less twang and more verve to properly exude their fabled greatness. They barked when they should have wailed. And so I found myself digging holes in the wrong fields.

With each new record, I found myself gravitating towards more and more of their growing songs, but still, it was Jim's voice and his lyrics that kept my ears perked, not the records, feedback-heavy solos or set of songs.

That mostly changed with Z, released in 2005. It was like they were Bob Dylan and went electric. Out of nowhere came this ethereal record with a new and lucid air to the music and performance. It was a new jacket for the morning. They mostly cutaway the southern jam band carnival fest taste, but kept the same ingredients to make the spacey trip of "Z." And my mind was blown, as was all the ever-so-smug "I told you so" scenesters, who alas, told me so, oh so long ago.

The half a dozen songs I've heard from their upcoming "Evil Urges" (due June 10) takes that and masters it further. Descending even deeper into the abyss of undefinable music style and uncanny music vision. Remember when Radiohead dropped "Ok Computer" on the world? Yeah, this ain't all that different of a trip, broheem.

"Touch Me I'm Going To Scream (Part 2)" is perhaps the wickedest track I've heard in ages. The song is so alive. It breathes, like a new baby born. It's bristling and bold. It's a rhythmic firecracker, with Jim's voice harrowing from the inside like the warm stirring core of planet earth, spinning out of control. I'm finally and totally convinced this band is every ounce of gravy so many have spoke of for so long now.

But even better than that, I tripped across the band's brightest light while sniffing out these "Evil Urges" tunes. And I hate myself for not digging this up sooner; the "Acoustic Citsuoca" EP from 2004.

I've listened to this on repeat all freaking weekend long and there is no sign of me stopping now. It's sparse, twinkling, live and acoustic, letting Jim man the reigns mostly on his own through this laid-back set of 5 songs. They cherry pick some of the best tunes off their earlier stuff and polish them off here. And boy do they shine. This starry-eyed cut of "Bermuda Highway" is what I will refer to when people ask me what my favorite song is. Mind. Blowing.

And wrapping this all up, have you been wanting to see what all this fuss about The Jacket is for, like I used to? Sign up for eMusic, and use your 50 free downloads you get for signing up to start chomping into their entire catalogue, because eMusic has every release of theirs now, including "Acoustic Citsuoca," and will land "Evil Urges" when it's released in June. eMusic, btw, is my best friend. If you're a music head, and aren't a "I only buy vinyl and/or physical CD" snob, eMusic is a total indie world godsend.