Lexington Herald Leader

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/entertainment/12829667.htm

My Morning Jacket

Z | HHH

The buzz surrounding Z suggested Louisville's My Morning Jacket, on its second major label album, was lifting the foggy veil from Jim James' pseudo-psychedelic rockers. Well, yes and no.

There's no mistaking the vocal clarity this time around, as in the bright reggae-ish groove that ignites Off the Record. Shoot, the tune could even hit big with radio if it weren't for the whirl of mellotrons that quickly engulf the tune as well as its uneasy fade into the ultra-trippy calliope stride of Into the Woods. The latter, along with the album-closing Dondante, swiftly send the Jackets back to reverb city.

The vocals, as always, are otherworldly wails caught somewhere between vintage soul and Pink Floydian slips of atmospheric fancy. The rest of the band, even with two new members on board, flips from chirpy garage rock (What a Wonderful Man) to melancholic acoustics (Knot Comes Loose) to ambient warmth (Wordless Chorus).

At times, all the genre-splitting sounds a little too purposeful, which makes the grooves a tad static. But just as you're about to catch some z's during Z, along comes Gideon, a wildfire mood piece in which James sings like a young Bono over a safety net of keyboard cool.

While the stylistic specifics are intriguing, My Morning Jacket still fascinates most when it doesn't spell everything out for the listener. Sure, there is sunshine in this music. But the best moments are the ones that play in the shadows.