Some people spend entire careers refining their sound; turns out others just do what the hell they like, when they like.
Jim James has spent years creating some of the most impeccably considered and thought-provoking records – Uniform Distortion is not one of them.
Gone are My Morning Jacket’s sprawling southern epics. Gone is the expressive confessional futurism of the Regions album. Gone is the delicate, experimental production of Eternally Even. What’s left is a breath of fresh air.
Uniform Distortion isn’t like any of James’ wonderfully crafted masterpieces, and that seems to be the point. This is the sound of someone playing music for the simple reason that it’s music; music like Just A Fool that offers 70s roots country through the sludgiest, moodiest kind of production possible. Or You Get to Rome that’s the equivalent of a Status Quo track as recorded by, well, My Morning Jacket. It’s insane and even James can’t keep a straight face. But for all its silliness, the commitment alone still makes it worthwhile.
The insanity doesn’t stop there. Throwback is an incredibly lo-fi, distorted mess of a power ballad, superbly disorientating and wonderfully contrasted by No Secrets. Here you get very real, very raw emotion. Then it’s back to the distortion. Yes To Everything is bordering on ludicrous, it even has ‘ooh la la’ backing vocals buried in the haze, yet there’s an honesty that underlines it instead of undermining it. In the same vein, Over And Over is an almost pitch perfect 50s rock and roll track, only replayed through a very messy mind. If it didn’t sound so rough and ready it would be twee.
The stand out moments are No Use Waiting, which might come off like some kind of terrifying hillbilly disco track, but for every eerie echo of 16 Horsepower you get an absolute downpour of Blondie’s Heart Of Glass. It may be dark, but it’s very moving, and a stonishing for its sheer audacity and agonisingly grinding funk rhythm.
At the other end of the spectrum is closer Too Good To Be True; Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits seemingly together on a fascinating, sultry, smoky ballad to things that once were. Every second is packed full of soul whilst radiating beauty and brilliance. It’s something special.
Which is just what Uniform Distortion is throughout. Always punky and brattish, the record is the sound of someone genuinely letting loose. What makes it work is that there’s a singular energy running through every song, each is
bristling with force; a force that’s enshrined by the album’s apparent anti-production values. Instruments and vocals battle for attention and everything sounds like a single take.
What’s left is a kind of sleazy, fun amalgam of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Cheap Trick – the vitriol humour and recklessness of both, but on top of that James brings a sheer exuberance that even these two bands would envy. Uniform Distortion is as earthy as it is out there; as aggressive as it is fun and as brilliant as it is silly. James has taken every concept of his music and thrown them out of the window.
Who knows what’s next, and who cares when you’re having this much fun.
