Description
My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges – Double Cream With Black Blob Vinyl Record
2 x LPs – Newly Mastered at 45 RPM for Improved Audio Quality, Cream Colored Vinyl with Black Blob
My Morning Jacket’s Evil Urges, released on June 10, 2008, is a bold, unpredictable, and genre-defying album that both challenged expectations and expanded the sonic vocabulary of the Kentucky-based rock band. Coming off the critical success of Z (2005), which had propelled them into indie-rock stardom with its dreamy textures and experimental flourishes, Evil Urges was a deliberate step into stranger, funkier, and riskier territory—a record that blends psychedelic rock, soul, R&B, country, prog, and Prince-esque falsetto into a swirling, often polarizing whole.
The album opens with its title track, “Evil Urges,” which immediately sets the tone: it’s twitchy, funky, and delivered in a falsetto that evokes both Prince and Bowie, with lyrics that hint at emotional and sexual tension. It’s a far cry from the expansive Southern rock and reverb-soaked ballads of earlier albums like It Still Moves. But that’s the point—Evil Urges is a record about desire, conflict, and transformation, and the music reflects that in its restlessness and stylistic adventurism.
One of the standout (and most divisive) tracks is “Highly Suspicious,” a warped, funk-metal stomp that’s part satire, part dance party. With its bizarre vocals and tongue-in-cheek delivery, it caught many listeners off guard. For some, it exemplifies the album’s boundary-pushing spirit; for others, it marks its most indulgent misstep. But it’s emblematic of frontman Jim James’ refusal to stay in any one lane—he’s constantly pushing the band into new terrain, often with theatrical flair.
Yet amid the genre-hopping, Evil Urges offers some of My Morning Jacket’s most heartfelt and beautifully constructed songs. Tracks like “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1” and “Thank You Too!” are lush, melodic, and emotionally resonant, with James’ vocals floating atop shimmering arrangements. “Librarian” is a hushed, tender ballad that reflects James’ gift for storytelling and intimacy, and “Look at You” is a slow-burn gem with soulful chords and a melancholic undercurrent.
The emotional and musical centerpiece is “Smokin From Shootin,” a track that builds from meditative verses into an explosive climax. It’s deeply cinematic, touching on themes of loss, futility, and the search for meaning. Its companion, “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2,” closes the album with a nearly nine-minute psychedelic odyssey, blending electronic loops, propulsive beats, and soaring melodies into a stunning finale that echoes Radiohead as much as it does Pink Floyd.
From a production standpoint, Evil Urges is tight and ambitious. Recorded in Manhattan with producer Joe Chiccarelli, the album sounds both polished and unpredictable. Unlike the more organic, live-in-a-room feel of earlier albums, Evil Urges is carefully sculpted, often with layered synths, string sections, and effects that underline the album’s more adventurous tone.
Upon release, the album received mixed but often admiring reviews. Many critics praised its ambition, noting that even when it stumbles, it does so in pursuit of something genuinely original. Others struggled with the tonal shifts and the eclectic track list. Over time, however, Evil Urges has grown in reputation as a brave and creative left-turn, a record that showed My Morning Jacket was not content to be simply a “Southern rock band” or a jam-rock favorite.
Evil Urges is a complicated, passionate, and daring album, one that stretches My Morning Jacket’s sound in all directions—sometimes awkwardly, often gloriously. It’s a reflection of Jim James’ restless artistic vision and the band’s willingness to take risks at the height of their popularity.
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic sealed
Track Listing
Evil Urges
Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 1
Highly Suspicious
I’m Amazed
Thank You Too!
Sec Walkin
Two Halves
Librarian
Look At You
Aluminum Park
Remnants
Smokin From Shootin
Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2
Good Intentions
