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A glimpse of that other America
My Morning Jacket brings their unabashedly American sound to Cafe Campus tonight. At a time when ugly America dominates the headlines, the Kentucky quintet evokes the country's beauty
  
Jordan Zivitz
The Gazette


Saturday, May 29, 2004


The Expos have Youppi!, McDonald's has Grimace and the Hamburglar, and My Morning Jacket has a family of bears.

The Kentucky rockers mounted a stuffed grizzly on the cover of their 2003 album It Still Moves (presumably as a counterpoint to the disc's title). Couple that with the recent live EP Acoustic Citsuoca - adorned with an illustration of two bears wearing teeny bowler hats - and there's some definite ursine love going on.

"It might have started when we were touring Canada with Foo Fighters last year," drummer Patrick Hallahan said this week. "We were driving through the area around Jasper and Banff, going to Edmonton, and there was a family of bears at the side of the road as we went by. I think it made (bandleader Jim James's) head explode. He'd never seen a family of bears before, so I think that started a creative cycle."

The wildlife inspiration is a curious bit of Canadiana amid the band's rampant Americana. Listening to My Morning Jacket is like taking a musical tour through the U.S.: plenty of heartland rock, a touch of Southern hospitality, some psychedelic patterns drawn around the margins, and echoes of the best West Coast artists of the 1970s. At a time when ugly America dominates the headlines, My Morning Jacket evokes the country's beauty.

Critics have suggested the band is essentially a solo project for James, and there's no denying who's at the centre of the quintet. If there's a unifying factor to My Morning Jacket's wide-screen sound, it's James's voice - an instrument that channels Neil Young and Brian Wilson, draped in melancholy and drenched in reverb. "It'll always be Jim's baby," Hallahan admitted, "but we've been such a part of it as a team that it's definitely turned into more of a band atmosphere."

Hallahan only joined the Jacket in 2002, but has watched the group grow from its beginnings in the late 1990s. "I've been friends with Jim since I was 10 years old. He gave me some demos when he was in another band and said, 'This is my little side project, My Morning Jacket. What do you think?'

"From the moment I heard it, I was like, 'Jesus Christ - quit this other band. These songs are phenomenal.' " With the release of It Still Moves and a never-ending tour, more people have come to share Hallahan's epiphany over the last year.

While CD reviews usually comment on James's sensitive soul, tour reports tend to focus on the head-banging musicians' flailing hair and rock 'n' roll workouts. The quiet stunners on Acoustic Citsuoca - recorded at a concert last October - aren't the norm; live shows often feature an amplifier meltdown in place of the albums' more controlled sparks of electricity.

"It definitely escalates a little bit (on stage). We're pent up in the bus all day long, so we get up there and the adrenaline starts going," Hallahan said. "For the most part, everyone who's come (to the shows) has been pleasantly surprised - although there have been times when people said, 'You have taken away everything from this album that I love. We can't believe you would do this.' We feel bad when that happens, but we can't help what comes naturally."

Apparently, they also can't predict what comes naturally. Hallahan said he has no idea what the next album will sound like - only that "it will be a natural progression." One thing's for certain: The halo of reverb around James's voice won't dim.

"Not a chance," Hallahan said with a laugh. "I think he would walk around every day with a little megaphone, if we could strap it to his head and he didn't have to hold it."

My Morning Jacket performs tonight at 7:30 at Cafe Campus, 57 Prince Arthur St. E., with M. Ward. Tickets cost $18.50, available through Admission. Call (514) 790-1245.

jzivitz@thegazette.canwest.com

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2004