My Morning Jacket
Circuital
For years now, My Morning Jacket has played the kind of big, loud, in-your-face concerts that refuse to be forgotten. (See their four-hour rock-out at 2008’s Bonnaroo—we dare you.) Equally, capturing that bigness on record has always been the band’s biggest hurdle. Which is where Circuital comes in. Recorded live to tape, the album comes as close to MMJ’s stage show as anything they’ve laid down to date. Ballads like “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” find frontman Jim James at his Neil Young-iest, acoustic guitar and subtly sweeping pedal-steel parts in tow. But rockers like “Holdin’ On to Black Metal” are where Circuital really shines, equal parts choir-backed funk and horn-drenched psychedelic quirk. It’s grandiose, it’s bombastic, and, oddly enough, it’s just as organic feeling as MMJ live. My Morning Jacket plays the S.B. Bowl on Saturday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. Visit sbbowl.com for tickets.
