Album review: Dave Matthews Band's 'Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King'
Rating: 3 stars (out of 4)
On the Dave Matthews Band’s latest album, “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” (RCA), the band’s late saxophonist LeRoi Moore gets the first word, and the last.
Though Moore died last August at age 46 from injuries suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident, his shadow hovers over the band’s seventh --- and best --- studio album, most of which was recorded last winter in New Orleans with producer Rob Cavallo, who has previously worked with Green Day and My Chemical Romance.
Moore’s saxophone solos begin and end the 13-song album, and his spirit informs the rest, a series of restless tracks obsessed with fleeting pleasures and final reckonings. It’s not a somber album. On the contrary, it bristles with an urgency lacking in most every other Matthews Band release; since its 1993 debut, the band has never rocked quite so hard, and Matthews at times sounds possessed. The amiable, meandering head-bobbing of the ‘90s and the tighter but sterile song structures of the last decade have been ditched in favor of an uncharacteristically direct attack. It’s as if the band finally figured out how to blend the strengths of the two eras: tauter arrangements, fiery ensemble interplay.
As one of the quintet’s cofounders, Moore helped shape a sound that blended funk, jazz and ethnic textures with Matthews’ rubbery acoustic tunes. At its best, the band suggested a ‘90s take on ‘70s progressive heroes such as Jethro Tull and Traffic; at its most banal, it rehashed Sting’s post-Police fusions of world music and pop. The quintet ascended to stadium-level status, consistently earning upward of $40 million annually on its summer tours while selling 31 million albums over 16 years.
But the band always had a hole in the middle of its sound. Moore and violinist Boyd Tinsley loved to noodle, and Matthews’ mushy vocal style and acoustic guitar strumming weren’t enough to anchor the tunes. The rhythm section featured brilliant technicians in drummer Carter Beauford and bassist Stefan Lessard who had little interest in propulsion. As a result, Matthews songs tended to wander, all about pretty colors but often lacking a central focus.
On “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King,” the major difference is felt as much as heard in a deeper, beefier bottom end. Matthews turns a potential throwaway phrase on “Squirm” --- “drum beats louder” --- into a mantra, and a hook. Fair warning. Beauford and Lessard swing the heaviest lumber of their careers. Electric, rather than acoustic, guitars also add weight. When Matthews’ falsetto vocal threatens to float away on “Seven,” he’s brought back to earth by the band’s newfound toughness.
The album is not without its flaws: Matthews can still be a frustratingly simple-minded lyricist when it comes to lust (“Shake Me Like a Monkey”) or a frustratingly mush-minded one when it comes to the state of the world (“Funny the Way It Is”). But his (failed) experiments in popcraft the last decade with producers Glen Ballard and Mark Batson have had some benefits: the songs are punchier, and Cavallo has given the band a bigger, more immediate sound.
Though the ensemble still flirts with exotic musical strains, they’re used judiciously. The Eastern accents on “Squirm” and the bluegrass banjo on “Alligator Pie” amp up the energy, rather than defuse it.
When “Time Bomb” goes off, Matthews’ voice nearly breaks. It’s his crisis of faith, an exhausted roar at the heavens. “I want to believe in Jesus,” he cries, as the music surges on the back of braying horns and a hammering Hammond organ.
After that moment, there’s nowhere to go but down. An acoustic reverie, “Baby Blue,” finds Matthews singing torn and frayed, couched in strings. He addresses what could be a lover, but it’s difficult not to hear it as a testimonial to his fallen bandmate: “Confess I'm not quite ready to be left … You give, you give, to this I can attest.”
greg@gregkot.com
The album is awesome and I'm really excited for the release... Fuse is airing their Beacon concert tonight @ 9pm, live and commercial free... and they are playing the entire new album and some oldies but goodies. I can't wait to watch on my big screen- it will be like I'm at the concert... haha!
check out his interview about the concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JsSkBfcgg0
Posted by: Julia | June 01, 2009 at 01:29 PM
Follow DMB -
http://www.msg.com/ajax/dayLife.jsp?name=dave-matthews-band
Posted by: tommy lei | June 01, 2009 at 02:12 PM
It is sad that Moore has passed but it is still a great album. I love you DMB and keep the good tunes a flowing
Posted by: debt reduction | June 01, 2009 at 03:13 PM
Dave Matthews and his band took a big dump on this record. I feel like a guy on a tour boat going under the bridge..
Posted by: dave | June 01, 2009 at 04:49 PM
Ha ha. Dave wants to flame. Go post for a band YOU like.
Posted by: Phrank | June 01, 2009 at 08:01 PM
Is it just me or does the song Shake Me Like a Monkey resemble the old funk band Cameo, song Word Up? Seriously now! Great however, love DMB!
Posted by: Tracie | June 02, 2009 at 02:20 PM
Seriously, their best album? I'll remember not to check The Chicago Tribune for music reviews.
Posted by: Word Up | June 03, 2009 at 09:39 PM
I have listened to the album and I feel more disappointed than when I listened to Stand Up for the first time. This album does not compare to the band's previous work. It is rubbish and to say it is a tribute to Roi is an insult.
Posted by: Ex-DMB lover | June 04, 2009 at 02:03 AM
The new DMB Album is great. The band has gone through so much in the past few years and they deserved this. As stated in the DVD for Big Whiskey, all bands must return to the idea that they will make a great album and it was indeed time for DMB to answer that call. This is their best album since "Under the table and dreaming" and "before these crowded streets" Anyone who disagrees can take their heads, the majority of dave fans love this new album and face it, it's here to stay-- and we love it!
Posted by: Trippnbillie | June 04, 2009 at 08:12 AM
By no means is this their "best" studio album. I am an avid Dave follower and wrote my own review on the album and it might be the best since BTCS but its lacking the improvisation that makes this band unique. There are no jams. It feels like its holding back. Nevertheless, it's a very eclectic heavy sound and DMB is a band that we need more of to experiment with new original sounds!
Posted by: miller35 | June 05, 2009 at 02:47 PM
wooooo!!!! it rules........screw the haters!!!!!
Posted by: joe | June 08, 2009 at 03:59 PM
For those who don't like the album then as Dave would say on stage, "for those who don't like it, I'm sorry, real sorry.. but for those of you who do like it, you right."
In an interview Dave made a quote I couldn't agree with more.
"If you don't like this album then you don't like music..." - Dave Matthews
I feel that this is by far DMB's best studio album to date. The songs are original and the album flows from start to finish in a timeless ballad that will continue to remind us of the Worlds challenges while paying tribute to the late LeRoi Moore who will forever be playing within our hearts and souls through the works of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.
Posted by: Marc | June 17, 2009 at 01:26 PM
nice.......but the change in direction is not very compelling.......check a review of this at That Doesnt Sound Right, mirrors my opinions...the electric guitars are not very good......Shake me Like a Monkey is the best one here
www.thatdoesntsoundright.wordpress.com
Posted by: Baba T | September 04, 2009 at 04:09 PM
breathtaking
Posted by: ginag | October 05, 2009 at 06:51 AM