My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves (2003)

(As published in the Times of Acadiana ... )

My Morning Jacket
It Still Moves
(ATO/RCA)

What has the college crowd crowing over these melancholy fellows is not their songs but their sound: keening vocals, languid jangle, and random choogle deliquescing amid enough reverb to cover an all but total lack of form and content. Perfect symbol of their willful indifference: rendering the title of track one, on both cover and booklet, in a font so illegible you’ll have to consult allmusic.com to tell whether its “Malgatah” or “Malapetah” only to learn it’s “Mahgeetah.” Lyric that says it all: “Oh shit run!” Rating: Two vengeful Montezumas out of five.