CD Reviews

My Morning Jacket & r & & r & Evil Urges & r & & r & 2 STARS & r & & r & & lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & M & lt;/span & y Morning Jacket has, understandably, spawned numerous wannabes. From the early country-fried days of Band of Horses to the vaunted atmospheric carousel that is Fleet Foxes, people are all up in Jim James' grill. When a band's this good, it's bound to produce a few goateed clones. With Evil Urges, its fifth album, however, the magic seems to be fading. While it starts out strong, one cannot avoid the undeniable, burgeoning suspicion that sounds basically like Beck's "Debra." There's promise in places, with a few Wilco-esque tracks shining through, and the latter half of the album is infinitely better than the first. Mostly, though, it's a multi-genre mess with little cohesion. As long as you stay the hell away from "Highly Suspicious," which resembles a horrible rendition of "Thriller," Evil Urges is listenable, maybe even enjoyable. But it's by no means fantastic.





--JEFF ECHERT





Download: "Thank You Too"





Martha Wainwright


I Know You're Married But I Have Feelings Too


3 STARS


& lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & M & lt;/span & artha Wainwright comes from a musical dynasty. You might have heard of her father, Loudon, or her brother, Rufus, or her mother, Kate McGarrigle, or her... well, you get it. She's Canadian-American musical royalty. But it'd be criminal to think of her as a low-hanging branch on a family tree. She's a sturdy sapling growing a bit further down the way. With her second record, I Know You're Married But I Have Feelings Too, however, she's still working in the family business: caustic, bitter songs about unfaithful lovers and shattered romantic expectations. Nursing a definite Kate Bush fascination, Wainwright's voice is an impressive instrument, equal parts catty mewling and all-out belting. Her lyrics are earnest, if a bit melodramatic, but the conceit wears on the listener after a while, especially when the music doesn't vary too much beyond slightly orchestrated acoustic guitar. Fifty minutes of "Why can't I have you?" can't avoid attrition forever.





--JEFF ECHERT





Download: "Comin' Tonight"