Yes, I'm writing about Dave. Equally a candidate for the most loved and most hated band in America for 15 years now, it's been tough being a fan of DMB this decade. After years of recording fun but ultimately flawed pop records, DMB finally recorded a masterpiece in 2000. Then a funny thing happened: they didn't release it. The Lilywhite Sessions became a bootleg masterpiece while the train wreck Everyday (one of the worst albums ever recorded by a reputable artist) hit the stores. They finally released most of that material on Busted Stuff in 2002, but then they bombarded their fans with live records that any normal American needs a second job to keep up with. 2005's Stand Up was too inconsistent to win anybody back, and the fact that Sony used that album to plant spyware on our computers sure didn't help anybody remember that album fondly (you stay classy, Sony!).
Their new album, the brilliantly titled Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King, might actually get a few fans back. Looming under the shadow of last year's tragic death of saxophonist Leroi Moore, this album sounds more confident and celebratory than anything they've recorded since Under The Table And Dreaming. After a beautiful sax intro by Leroi himself, "Shake Me Like A Monkey" is a joyous blare of trumpets and electric riffs. Electric guitar is used here more frequently than any past records, but the riffs aren't the sole driving force behind the songs like they were on Everyday.
"Funny The Way It Is" is catchy, but not in an immediate way - I think it will grow on everybody by summer's end. "Why I Am" is a hard-rocking sure fire hit where Dave talks about "still dancing with the GrooGrux King". Every track has a well-balanced mix between winds, guitar, piano, banjo, and sometimes orchestra - it's a miracle in production (courtesy of American Idiot mastermind Rob Cavallo) that this album doesn't feel overstuffed.
What really shines on this record is the simplicity of Dave's songwriting. While his lyric writing always has room for improvement, he's showing definite progress here, and he doesn't resort to the usual gibberish and teenage sex talk that have bogged down his past records. "Dive In" and "Time Bomb" are convincingly somber ballads that are augmented by hard-drivers like "Alligator Pie". They actually managed to get track sequencing right here, which has always been a problem for this band. And if you want to hear one of Dave's finer singing moments, listen to him shred the last minute of "Time Bomb".
Although I'm still holding out of the day the Lilywhite Sessions are released in their original form, this album stands alongside Busted Stuff as DMBs best recording. They might win a few fans back this year.
In 2009, we've got great albums from Green Day, U2, and Dave Matthews Band. Who could of guessed?
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OK, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I found out that Leroi Moore died about a week ago from some news story about the new album... and I felt really stupid. To be fair, though, when it happened I was on the couple of days' break between the honeymoon and starting school....
No. Bad excuse. Actually, it's really stupid that I didn't know that. Anyhow, I'll have to pick this up sometime soon.
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