Evil Urges

iTunes Review

My Morning Jacket represent an interesting piece of rock terrain for 2008. Their influences are clearly retro, found in the ‘60s pop of Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell (“Librarian”), the ‘70s AM soft-rock vibe of “Thank You, Too,” the southern rock full guitar and harmony attack of “I’m Amazed,” the nod to the Raspberries with “Two Halves,” and the nearly out of context falsetto, mock disco accents of the title track and “Highly Suspicious,” where singer Jim James sounds a bit like Beck imitating Prince. These eclectic juxtapositions keep this Louisville, Kentucky quintet entertained with themselves and that amusement sends out an excited aura that’s palpable throughout this sprawling, ambitious album. There’s still a little extra reverb in spots and lots of electric guitar to sift through (check the stereo mix of “Remnants” for old school guitar wars), but this is clearly their most straight-forward album to date. The best moments move quick, as it’s the album’s hummable midsection (“Librarian,” “Look At You” and the classic rock guitars of “Aluminum Park”) that carries this album to sweet victory.