My Morning Jacket
The Tennessee Fire

THE REVIEW

Reviewing a band "in reverse" is never easy, by now you're too influenced by what happened afterwards, making what came before seem stripped of all those fundamental characteristics that led you to love them.

It is the chrysalis that, with great effort, will manage to break the shell that protects it and separates it from the world, finally taking the first steps towards the future.

In "The Tennessee Fire" you don't hear all the psychedelic nuances and elaborate sounds that the band today knows how to weave with great skill, and James's voice doesn't yet appear solid, even though his undisputed talent manages to emerge at times from the songs (listen to the very sweet "I Will Be There When You Die", accompanied only by a faint acoustic guitar).

A very strong personality that of Jim James, an undisputed leadership, the only thing the band needed back in 1998, formerly known as Winter Death Club, which included Quaid, Blankenship, and Glenn.

In short, he arrives, and the music changes (literally!). Within a year, they managed to put together this album, which would be released in May 1999 by Daria Records, giving themselves a credible air.

A very clean and clear album, featuring many acoustic and electric guitars (Bo Koster, the keyboard wizard, had yet to join); a mandolin is heard in "If All Else Fails."

And there are the threads of voices that from this debut have their own dimension and underline the flow of the tracks; characteristic harmonies that can be heard from the first two songs, Heartbreakin' Man and the wonderful They Ran, with falsetto vocals coloring the main one.

The quality of the recordings isn't top-notch, perhaps in search of a sound closer to the live dimension and that of home rehearsals, or simply due to a lack of funds. The fact is that the melodies of the songs come through first, aided by this dry drum sound ("War Begun" and "Picture of You" are the perfect examples) and the guitar chords, which don't hide behind synthetic sounds of effects and keyboards. You can even hear some mistakes here and there, but that's okay.

Only the final "Untitled Track" seems to leave space for an embryonic experimentation, almost a warning for future fans.

The lyrics also reflect the flow of the music: they are very short (you might even see them laid out in just two sentences!) and speak of simple things, those a twenty-year-old from Kentucky can tell us about. Lost loves, the fears that grip him, like the fear of not being up to life's challenges and not being able to escape a region certainly not easy for an aspiring musician.

"I'd move on, but I know you'll need some day/ I'd roll on, but I know you'll need some day".

The four from Louisville do not hold back, sixteen songs for almost an hour of music, no frills, and a lot, a lot of desire to show themselves for what they are.

There will be time for sound search and refined arrangements, you have to do your apprenticeship first.

I know why I love My Morning Jacket, but "The Tennessee Fire" made me understand that I don't need all the embellishments they carry today to love them, their songs are enough for me.