AP Review

[LaurieBlue]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20051004/ap_en_re/music_review_my_morning_jacket_1

Great - this is the one that's going out on the AP Newswires.  Already saw Kansas City Star had it.  You can discuss or vote on this review, by the way.  This one did get under my skin..and I did vote..

Music Review: My Morning Jacket's 'Z' By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer

Jim James sings on the opening track of My Morning Jacket's solid new album, "Z," "We are the innovators, they are the imitators."

But are they? My Morning Jacket, who usually perform barefoot and headbang with their long brown hair, plays a `00s kind of southern rock — what you might call a leaner, smarter Lynyrd Skynyrd. They aren't going to wow you with new ideas, but they'll rock just the same.

The real difference of "Z" from My Morning Jacket's three prior albums is that the reverb, which typically draws out James' voice, has been tampered down. It's a welcome change from the previously suffocating, pristine vocals.

It's immediately noticed on the first song, "Wordless Chorus" — a striking, organ driven, soft groove that, true to title, has a chorus of only "ahhh." It sounds unlike anything My Morning Jacket has done before — James even throws in some high, Michael Jackson-esque shrieks at the end.

The other standout is "Off the Record" — which is really three songs in one: a James Bond theme, an Elvis Costello single and a Portishead outro. The three parts, surprisingly, all work together to make a hell of a tune.

My Morning Jacket still finds room for some reverb-soaked vocals and headbanging anthem ('Anytime'), but the band are easy to parody for such self-conscious rocking. Instead, they should keep the co-producer of "Z" — John Leckie — and stick to their new, more straightforward sound.

[havibulin]

that guy is full of crap. he's obviously never zoned out to anything worth listening to in his entire life.

[fitzcarraldo]

The guy doesn't get it.  :-/

[EC]

But are they?

Yes.  I'm so sorry to hear that you're slow.

Poor dude.  Obviously a big dumbass. ;)