It Still Moves

My Morning Jacket

ATO/RCA Records

My…

It Still Moves

My Morning Jacket

ATO/RCA Records

My Morning Jacket’s love of reverb might be compared to the love a fat, fat man might have for mayonnaise: They dip, slather, stir and smother everything with it, slowly drowning their sweet, country-twang guitars in a bucket of it.

In fact, the early years of the Louisville, Ky., band found front man Jim James and company exploiting neighborhood barns in search of the deepest, sharpest echoes – an act that undoubtedly contributed to the band’s dense sound today – that and a firm, genuine affinity for “The Muppets.”

It Still Moves, the band’s first effort on Dave Matthews’ ATO Records, is a drifting beauty of an album. Guitars wrap themselves around each other, giving way to an onslaught of pianos, horns and echoing melodies, only to be met again with unapologetically lengthy guitar solos. Everything gets lost in something else, all without losing the punch.

On the opening “Mahgeetah,” James is “all wrapped up in a bottle of wine,” while crooning, “people always told me/bars are dark and lonely,” on “Golden.” James’ relationship with alcohol becomes a poetic pillar on Still.

Elsewhere, James admits “It wasn’t until I woke up that I could hold down a joke or a job or a dream/But then, all three are one in the same,” and pleads, “Just don’t make it last any longer than it has to,” with his words rolling off of his tongue with both the confidence of a happy artist and the half-consciousness of a drunk at 3 a.m.

Despite the fact that a handful of these songs clock in at about 7 minutes, none of them seem to “last any longer” than they have to, because the band’s sharp but dark melodies tastefully mutate into sleepwalking soundtracks before the coffee is finished brewing.

Still wouldn’t be nearly as fun to listen to, either, if it wasn’t as clear as it is that these guys are enjoying themselves, too. As bummed out and drunk as they may be, My Morning Jacket still has rock ‘n’ roll, and they like it.