#circuital

My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Whenever I think of Louisville, Kentucky band My Morning Jacket, I think of the episode of American Dad where Stan becomes a devotee of the band and does nothing but listen to them for an extended period of time. It was such a weird premise for an episode of the show, but I’ve always wanted to give the band a listen. I checked out their last album, 2025’s is, and I thought it was a decent little album. I ended up forgetting about it, but I haven’t forgotten about listening to their other material. They’re one of those indie and alternative bands that aren’t quite in the same scene as other bands from the era; they’re the proverbial red-headed stepchild, basically, because they’re outliers in that whole scene. Their sound is tough to categorize, and vocalist / songwriter Jim James is an interesting and eccentric figure in indie rock.

I ended up finding one of their earlier albums, albeit not from the 00s, but one of their earlier albums, nonetheless. I found 2011’s Circuital, and I swear I’ve seen this album cover, but I decided to pick it up after seeing it online. I didn’t know what to expect, since these guys are kind of outliers in the indie world, but I’ll be damned, I really like it. It’s not my favorite album or anything like that, but I quite like it. The album has some slight issues, but they ultimately don’t matter too much. The main issue I have is its sound, at least in that it’s very eclectic. They move through psychedelic, alternative, indie, and folk, just to name a few, and it can be kind of jarring. Every song has a different feel to it, and at 45 minutes, it’s a bit lengthy. Some songs feel a bit too long, but they’re not bad, per se.