My Morning Jacket - is (March 21, 2025)

Okay no negativity in the first post I suppose:

"is" LP - Rainbow Splatter Variant (Webstore Exclusive)
"is" LP - Summer Sky Variant

Go see this band live, hell go see 'em three times. I promise you won't regret it regardless of whether this record is good or not:
Tour — My Morning Jacket

 

This is my favorite band. I may end up having to sell a couple, but as of now I have tickets to six (yes, 6) of their shows in the next few months. (St. Louis and all five Louisville). Didn't see them at all in 2024 (mostly because the bulk of their summer tour was coheadlining with that godawful Nathaniel Ratfucker) but saw them four times in 2023 and usually go out of my way to at least hit a couple shows most years.

I'm pretty worried about how much I'm going to like this record. The two little "breakdown" parts of "Squid Ink" are cool enough but they're short and the rest of the song is kind of...annoying overall? "Time Waited" is inoffensive, but it's definitely the song I'm going to take a piss during for the upcoming shows (unless "Regularly Scheduled Programming" somehow works its way back in--haven't loved their first singles from the last several records I guess). I think Brendan O'Brien was a bad bad choice for them. "Squid Ink" would probably be better if it wasn't so shiny and toothless.

But the big problem for me is what I mentioned in the other thread a few wks ago: I think Jim is just out of gas for me as a songwriter. Maybe this is unfair, I'll have to go back and think about it, but I'm pretty sure he hasn't had an interesting idea lyrically in uh...I mean I want to say since "Dondante" but that surely can't be right. I guess "Outta My System" and songs like that are clever at least. And the music and the song structures get more predictable and more bland 70s-style smooth rock with a touch of white-guy-trying-to-do-soul with every passing record. There are still awesome moments in many of their songs--thinking of the various tracks on the last album with extended outro instrumentals--but the ceiling, especially on the last 3-4 records, is "this is cool/pretty good."

Oh well. The band seems really happy and in it for the long haul so that's good. Jim has clearly been having fun on stage again in the post-pandemic shows, Patrick's sober, Bo gets to play with Roger Waters so kinda can't bring him down, etc etc. So they can pump out mediocre records every 4 years forever if they keep playing together and keep playing great shows, I do not care. I'm not gonna be 20 years old and drunk in my parents' basement in Kentucky listening to At Dawn ever again anyway.

 

I agree with this somewhat, in that I would say his songwriting has absolutely tended more towards the simple in recent years, almost like diddies for lack of a better descriptor. That sounds much more belittling than I want it to, but the songs have tended to be shorter and more repetitive.

I think there are exceptions though, but even then those tend to come with asterisks or disclaimers. I would say “No Secrets” from his solo album Uniform Distortion is an incredible song from a songwriting standpoint, but it sounds like it was recorded with a microphone under a wet blanket while Jim and the band were across the room at the bottom of a well. “It Will Work Out” is another very strong song from that batch, but it too has the same baffling sound, and that one was relegated to a super expensive & obscure vinyl-only bonus thing. I'd put “Feel You” way up there as well, but again, that one was inexplicably left off the real album and didn't see the light of day for years.

I think the story of this album’s creation should give you a little bit of hope for future albums though, even if you're not thrilled about this one / Brendan O’Brien. They were recording a bunch of songs but felt like they had lost their way and allegedly he helped them kinda get their mojo back. Maybe they'll hook up with a different producer next time.

And I really connected with self-titled from a few years ago in a big way, even though it's not quite on par with their output from back in the day.

For me, I'm just glad they worked with an outside producer who is not Tucker Martine. I don't have a problem with him per se, but I definitely think MMJ with him had settled into a pretty unexciting rut.

 

tentatively excited, basically echo everything chris said except even at their peak i probably didn’t like them to the same level. jim seems cooked outside of a song or two an album, which to be fair is all you can really ask of a band at it as long as them

 

For as long as they've been around, I think they are still putting out quality music. While the last albums were not on the same level as Z or Evil Urges, I still liked a lot of it. Im digging the new songs a lot and i think we will be pleasantly surprised with the rest of the album.

I have only been to 2 shows but they were both both insane. Bonnaroo 2006 and the Circuital album release show in Louisville.

 

I agree with most of this. "Ditties" is perfect haha. But to be fair I suppose Jim has occasionally tried some more out of the box stuff, like "Devil's in the Details" for example--but I just think that song sucks.

I hear what you're saying but it feels like the story of each of their last few records has been "they got their mojo back." Has yet to really be true. And I'm not worried about the music exactly because this band still kicks ass and writes interesting parts etc. So for O'Brien to come in and--from my perspective based on just two songs--dumb everything down even more is unfortunate.

 

I’m a fanboy so I irrationally dig it all.

I will say that since Jim has started releasing solo records, it appears that’s been his goto outlet for the more “interesting” song writing if we want to use that word. I’m cool with that though since MMJ has been incorporating Jim James songs into their sets over the last few years.

 

Even songs I don’t initially like I tend to find myself enjoying eventually since they cover so many different moods across their catalog.

For example, Devil’s in the Details can sound like nails on a chalkboard if you’re in a good mood on a sunny day and want them to rock ya. But when you’re in a pensive state or walking on a grey day during February it can really hit.