My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (2LP) - 45RPM Cream w/ Black Blob Vinyl

Evil Urges arrived in June 2008 as My Morning Jacket’s big, brazen left turn, the moment Jim James and co stopped being the reliable kings of reverb-soaked Southern rock and decided to chase every sound that had been rattling around their heads. Produced by Joe Chiccarelli and cut largely at Avatar Studios in New York City, it’s a record that still feels daring. The band didn’t abandon their past so much as fold it into a stranger, funkier shape, and the result is a messy, thrilling stew that rewards repeat listens.

The title track sets the tone with a quicksilver groove and James pushing his falsetto right to the front. Then comes the hit, I’m Amazed, all chiming guitars and harmonies that could lift a grey Tuesday. It became a fan favourite for good reason, the sort of song that winds up on every tour’s setlist because it lights up a room. But Evil Urges is defined just as much by the provocations. Highly Suspicious landed like a curveball in 2008, with clipped funk guitars and those yelps that had some long-time listeners spitting chips. Heard now, it plays as a cheeky marker of intent. This band can do Prince-indebted strut and still sound unmistakably like themselves.

What keeps the album grounded is the range of textures the five of them conjure. Carl Broemel drifts between stinging leads and lap steel shimmer. Bo Koster’s keys and synths thread through everything, from the sleek pulse of Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1 to the long, hypnotic Pt. 2 that closes the record with a patient, motorik sway. Tom Blankenship and Patrick Hallahan lock in like a proper rhythm section, whether they’re punching through Remnants and Aluminum Park or easing back for the soft-soul sway of Sec Walkin. And then there’s Librarian, a tender, slightly oddball ballad that sneaks up on you with its gentle melody and late-night hush.

Chiccarelli’s production is crisp without sanding off the band’s character. Avatar’s big rooms give the drums room to breathe and the vocals a glossy edge, so the stylistic swerves feel less like detours and more like one wide, adventurous road. Sequencing matters here too. The raucous stuff keeps getting balanced by slow-burners like Smokin From Shootin, which builds from a murmur to a mid-tempo ache, and Thank You Too!, which wears its heart on its sleeve. It is not a tidy album. That is part of why it lingers.

Reception at the time was split, and that history has become part of Evil Urges’ charm. Some critics praised the ambition, others baulked at the theatrics. The Recording Academy certainly took notice. The album earned a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, a tidy nod to just how far My Morning Jacket had pushed their sound since Z. On stage, the songs quickly found their place. The 2008 touring cycle saw the band turn tracks like I’m Amazed and Aluminum Park into communal singalongs, while Touch Me Pt. 2 stretched into a blissed-out finale that made perfect sense under festival lights.

Spinning Evil Urges on vinyl adds another layer. The low-end on Pt. 2’s synth pulse feels warmer, the guitars on Aluminum Park jump out with a bit more bite, and you can really sit inside the reverb tail of those harmonies. If you’re the sort who browses a Melbourne record store on a Saturday and judges a band by how they sit on the platter, this is a great litmus test. My Morning Jacket vinyl often rewards that attention, and Evil Urges is no exception. If you’re searching for Evil Urges vinyl specifically, you’ll find it sitting neatly alongside the band’s more canonical titles, and it holds its own.

As a chapter in the story, Evil Urges matters. It widened the palette so that later records could dip in and out of funk, synth pop and hushed folk without a fuss. It also gave the live show new gears, which fans still feel today. If you’re trying to buy My Morning Jacket records online and you already know Z and It Still Moves, make room for this one. It is the leap that clarified what the band could be. Among My Morning Jacket albums on vinyl, it is a conversation starter, a little contentious, and quietly essential. And if you’re crate digging through vinyl records Australia and this sleeve winks up at you, take it home. Play it loud. Let the weird bits win.