Z, My Morning Jacket's 2005 release helmed by Brit John Leckie, who produced Radiohead's The Bends, was an evolutionary shift for the band, best known up to that point as rootsy jammers. The disc transcended Bonnaroo freeform, and broached a realm that captivated not only their longtime fans, but liberal-minded alt-rock lovers in search of an intelligent adventure with raucous rhythm.
The group formed in Louisville in the late '90s, fronted by singer/guitarist Jim James and anchored by bassist "Two-Tone" Tommy. (The name My Morning Jacket comes from an abandoned jacket monogrammed with "MMJ" that James found.) Their debut, The Tennessee Fire (1999), was a critically hailed neo-country wash of acoustic guitars, lap steel and bluesy atmospherics. The other two original members, Johnny Quaid (guitar) and J. Glenn (drums), would depart with their sophomore effort At Dawn (2001). It Still Moves (2003) was the first major indication of their true ambition and the sense that they had more up their sleeve; Z coincided with the group's big-screen cameo in Elizabethtown, penned by Cameron Crowe who'd seen the band perform at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. While they fight being tagged a Southern Rock band — something they perpetuated when, performing under the name Ruckus in Crowe's film, they made "Freebird" their own — MMJ wholly implements the spirit laid down in earlier generations by Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band. But their choice of tour mates such as Guided By Voices and The Doves more accurately reflects the scenic reverb-ensconced highway on which they do most of their traveling.
MMJ's most recent release, Evil Urges, spins the band's groove off down even more inspired roads, with plenty of soul-inspired falsetto, funk-heavy beats and subtle electronica undercurrents.
Provenance: Louisville, Kentucky
Latest Release: Evil Urges (2008)
© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
My Morning Jacket
