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| Artist: My Morning Jacket
Label: Roughtrade
Category: Music
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £8.78
You Save: £5.21 (37%)
New (22) Used (1) from £7.49
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 2580
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.2
UPC: 883870046527
EAN: 0883870046527
ASIN: B0017V8QHA
Release Date: June 9, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-8 of 8 | | « PREV | | |
 BOLD, BAFFLING, and BRILLIANT. June 20, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Other My Morning Jacket albums have hinted at the bands eclectic approach to their music and influences, but none of their studio albums have ventured this far into new territory.Evil Urges is the sound of a band at its most playfully creative, and the results are a joyous mix of the expected and the slightly surreal.Like the Flaming Lips before them My Morning Jacket are not afraid to take chances and hope their audience keeps up.
Perhaps the most controversial track is "Highly Suspicious" which steals from Prince, with added oddness in its chorus.However this is just one surprise as Evil Urges builds to the climatic modern space rock epic "Good Intentions" that closes this uplifting, but mind boggling set of songs.It takes guts to break so completely from accepted norms, and the joy of Evil Urges is in its willingness to do just that.The main comparison i can think of is to imagine Neil Young emerging as a young talent today with 50 years of rock history to work with,i reckon he would be producing music not dissimilar to this, which is the highest praise i can give.
With the success of bands like My Morning Jacket, Death Cab For Cutie, and Modest Mouse, American left field pop has not looked this healthy since the early Nineties, and is really showing the way for creative music in this new century.
 A stumble, but nothing worse. June 9, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
So this is what Jim James calls "getting away from normal rock n' roll sounds" in order to give the listener a more vivid indication of the My Morning Jacket live experience. Perhaps that was a wise idea, then. It's sometimes quite heart-breaking to witness a band whose records you have adored, only to leave the venue feeling empty. But if only Jones had considered the fact that his band were on something of a winning streak, 'Z' being the solution to a perfect musical formula built from the equally riveting 'It Still Moves' and 'At Dawn', if only he'd just stuck to the formula.
Because to tell you short and sharp, 'Evil Urges', the fifth record from Kentucky's finest is a disappointment. It's the sound of a band having a night out where instead, they should have stayed inside. Replicating the simple songwriting qualities that appeared on masterpiece 'Z' surprisingly, wouldn't have been cheap and because they've attempted to break ground again, the majority of this 14 track LP sounds dated and far too desperate.
Of course there are moments to praise - 'Smokin' From Shootin'' builds and builds into a thrashing crescendo of glorious fuzz seeped into a fantastically tight band sound. Jim Jones loses himself for a moment towards the end and its one of the rare moments in which the record sounds genuine, passionate and stunning. 'I'm Amazed' sticks to the previously tuned formula more than anything else on the album, it brinks on being too simplistic but the blissful piano/guitar combined riff ensures that we remain gratified. It's when the band sound this triumphant and god damn powerful that their sound works.
When it doesn't work, things go a little pear-shaped. 'Highly Suspicious' is going to take an acquired taste to enjoy. Hip-hop elements are blended with the poppiest sounding Jones vocals you're ever likely to hear. It comes close to being pulled off - a structure renders similar to the work of the White Stripes and the simplicity of it all is a positive. But when Jones begins to laugh hysterically you can't help but imagine yourself in a situation akin to being taken to the Rocky Horror Show, dressed as a prostitute, as a straight-as-you-can-be avid, blokey reader of FHM. Essentially 'Highly Suspicious' makes you feel dreadfully uncomfortable. It's just fortunate that this mess is reprimanded by the following song 'I'm Amazed' and its predecessor, the synth-heavy, 80's influenced 'Touch Me I'm Going To Scream', it's second part (the final track) surpasses it in thrills and strength with an ironically traditional rock n' roll sound. But the better moments are hard to come by, and patched out in an odd tracklisting that rarely lets the album flow or get into a comfort zone.
The record never reaches this comfort zone because its too wrapped up in its own indecision. 'Librarian' is a seedy and false account of a dysfunctional sexual fantasy, lyrics verge on being embarrassing and make little sense ("When God gave us mirrors, he had no idea"), it's either trying to tell a story or attempting to send out a positive message and preferably, that's not the My Morning Jacket we're keen on hearing. The preferred sound is one gathered up in the frenzied 'Aluminum Park', equipped with firey guitar solos and a raging Jones playing his role as the front-man expertly. The "live sound" is attempted with cheers of "woo!" every now and then but they again, are unlikely to be spontaneous.
The fault of this record is that even though this is the My Morning Jacket we all know and love, their idea of experimentation isn't just changing their sound, instead they opt for an alteration in the personality that comes out from their music. But the better, more suitable sounding moments make 'Evil Urges' no more than a stumble.
Weevil Urges May 8, 2008
4 out of 10 found this review helpful
This album weaves like a Weevil, it's the Wevie Stonder of weaving, weaving it's way through soul, r&b, gargled electronics, pysche rock, folk, country and some heavier stuff too... obviously they're very accomplished musicians. I hadn't heard of these guys til the other day though, when I was in my local record shop where they were playing a promo copy.. annoyingly I had to buy an import on Amazon as its not out yet. But it was well worth it. I've been getting bored with most new music lately as i've found that it doesnt have much substance and as a result doesn't reward repeat listenings. This however has a massive life span. It's a pretty long album track wise, but because all the songs are so different I keep going back to it, as the songs that were initially my faves (Evil Urges & Touch Me.. Pt 2) have been replaced by others (Librarian & Highly Suspicious) which are now being replaced by others... tis the gift that keeps on giving.
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