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From the band’s name to the album’s title to the actual sound of the music, My Morning Jacket’s second album “At Dawn” feels like a waking up experience. The album’s title track opener starts out with a brooding, almost eerie light noise sound that conjures the first shadows from the first light of day before finding itself as a sleepy yet urgent little rock track. Throughout the next few tracks is a laid back, pleasant, calmly contemplative sound blending together traditional singer/songwriter type rock with subtle folk or Southern influences as well as a certain Wall Of Sound-type brightness and 60s pop sensibilities. In particular, the third track “The Way That He Sings” stands out as a catchy yet poignant track indicative of MMJ’s overall strength as a musical unit. The album’s production lends to its listening power, heavily reverb laden and open for various forms of use. The production actually reminds me of Led Zeppelin at times due to the power given to the recording of the drums, particularly on the somewhat unfortunate track “Phone Went West” before that track incorporates an odd yet fitting dub element.
Of particular note is bandleader Jim James’s vocals, which at once sound vulnerable and soft while having certain piercing qualities as though his singing is cutting through the music’s open spaces. Nevertheless it’s a reassuring type of voice that really carries the mood of the band. He has a tendency on this record that I didn’t notice as much on some of MMJ’s later records where he goes into a very high falsetto that feels almost icy and in fact reminds me of the vocals for Iceland’s incomparable Sigur Ros. This high-pitched voice combined with his lazy Southern drawl make for a kind of comfortable fragility. A good example of this is the harmonica-tinged slow one “Death is My Sleezy One,” which sounds a bit traditional and easy actually when compared to the music of some of the album’s other songs.
Having heard this album a long time after hearing later albums by My Morning Jacket, I can now understand why there was some initial dismay amongst their fanbase when those albums came out. Although the overall feel of the band has not changed drastically, the bombast found on their more recent albums is not as pronounced here, and in these earlier stages of life the band was more content to stay within its comfort zone of alternative folk rock. This was recorded in the part of their career when they were content to let simple, sweet acoustic songs like “Hopefully” and “Bermuda Highway” sit easy without clouding them up with too much studio although these songs still carry wih them a very full sound.
This was also when their attempts to branch into other-genre territory were a bit more predictable than future gems like “Sec Walkin’”; “Honest Man” is a long drawn out affair that recalls many, many blues-oriented rock jams that have come before it but doesn’t do anything to be special in that morass of a genre. Even James’s otherwise standout voice sounds weak here, cursed by its normally helpful vulnerability, and there is a really annoying distorted scream section that’s not only distracting but completely unnecessary. They should have saved this one for an EP release or something because it doesn’t stand up to the un-forced beauty that many of “At Dawn”’s other tracks possess. Another down point for me, while still a pretty good song for what it is, was the demo-sounding “If It Smashes Down” which features harshly plucked strings that almost sound like a banjo and vocals that sound like he wasn’t really trying that hard, especially at the end when he starts singing high-pitched nonsense for no good reason. This track has moments of potential but overall its poorly conceived and performed, again better suited for an EP or demo release.
Similarly, the short sugar jam “Just Because I Do,” while a cool little song in what it is, sounds oddly ‘down-home’ compared to most of its album counterparts and even feels a bit cluttered when the dual vocals (one of which seems to be a little off-key here actually) combine with harmonica. Another good track that has hints of problems is the album closer “Strangulation” which is far too long at 8 minutes and 8 seconds, by far the slowest song on the album, and in truth a bit boring. Its still a pretty song, though, and once the vocals end it apexes into a really powerful almost post-rock part that I’d love to see live sometime.
My Morning Jacket’s sensibilities towards writing super catchy quasi-arena jams like the ones found on their breakout album “Z” or its follow-up “Evil Urges” are still in their germination stage, but these songs are of a different character, they have a more natural feel about them. This is an album for lazy yet thoughtful times, sipping on some coffee and reading or looking out on a lake or something. That said, this is by no means a boring album; the music is lush and big yet raw and real, and throughout the album is a easy-coming pleasantness mixed with sweet nostalgic melancholy (see: “X-mas Curtain” and “I Needed It Most”) . This is really good music by a great band and despite the reserves I indicated above I highly recommend this album to fans of folk/country tinged rock music that’s pretty while still being thoughtful and true without being blunt.
