My Morning Jacket: Evil Urgency

Fans of My Morning Jacket's reverb-drenched southern-psychedelic-soul are eagerly awaiting the imminent release of Evil Urges. Two-Tone Tommy feels the same way. The bassist (whose mom knows him as Tom Blankenship) can't wait for his band's long-time-coming fifth album to be officially issued.

"I just can't wait for it to be out," Blankenship told me, in a recent interview. "But, now that (the album) is actually coming out, all these anxieties are coming back to me, like: 'My God, what are people going to think?' You work on it for so long —it was eight, nine months in total— that you hope and pray that people actually enjoy what you've done."

So far, it seems as if pundits are split on My Morning Jacket's latest longplayer. The product, Two-Tone says, of "a different band," it finds Jim James and his rollicking Kentuckian crew trading in their Band-like jams and Louvin Brothers harmonies for an army of analogue synthesizers and some hysterical Prince-like funk.

Dealing in musical genre swapping —with James' voice going through chameleonic changes the whole while— the album's box-of-chocolates variety certainly runs the risk of alienating listeners. But, given Evil Urges isn't yet officially released (that comes on June 10), let's say the jury's still well and truly out.

Evil Urges Track List
1. "Evil Urges"
2. "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream (Part 1)"
3. "Highly Suspicious"
4. "I'm Amazed"
5. "Thank You Too"
6. "Sec Walkin'"
7. "Two Halves"
8. "Librarian"
9. "Look at You"
10. "Aluminum Park"
11. "Remnants"
12. "Smokin' from Shootin'"
13. "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream (Part 2)"
14. "Good Intentions"