Philadelphia (Wed.) Review

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http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/magazine/daily/12896901.htm

Posted on Fri, Oct. 14, 2005


MMJ continues to blossom

By Patrick Berkery

For The Inquirer


Around 10 Wednesday night, as the Rolling Stones were midway through a hit parade at the Wachovia Center that excluded "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," the hairy Southern-rock revisionists known as My Morning Jacket were at the Theatre of Living Arts, channeling the cosmic samba outro of that song to hallucinogenic effect.

MMJ, which plays there again tonight, had just skanked at a leisurely pace through the meat of "Off the Record," one of many numbers it did from the new Z, a stellar step forward for the quintet. Then the band slid seamlessly into a vamp that melded moody slap-back guitar echo and twinkles of electric piano over a steady pulse. It made for a thrilling punctuation to what began as an infectiously lilting pop tune.

That song and others, such as the aptly titled encore "Wordless Chorus," suggests MMJ is blossoming from a dependable extension of its influences - Crazy Horse, Pink Floyd, the Dead - into postmodern purveyors of some strange honeysuckle mountain rock that places a premium on melody and pays glassy-eyed attention to structural detail. The refrain of "Wordless" was a soaring wash of "aahhs" and "oohwaahhs" delivered by Jim James in his typically echo-heavy tenor.

"Lay Low," another example, arrived at a euphoric dual-guitar-jam coda via a looped groove that bobbed against the polyrhythmic feel until finally exploding into straight-four time at the end. "What a Wonderful Man" was a giddy shot of bubblegum, but that didn't stop guitarist Carl Broemel from dropping a Mountain-esque riff into the bridge.

Older favorites, including the sweet strum of "Lowdown" and the Dixie shuffle of "Golden" (which featured backing vocals from Kathleen Edwards), were no slouches. They just seemed like the sketches of beginners stacked against the new stuff.

Edwards was a logical choice to open the evening, given her affinity for classic-rock touchstones. But as with her records, Edwards' 45-minute set presented her as a pedestrian pupil of the Lucinda Williams school of roots-infused rock.