James

The Morning After the Night Before (UMe/Universal)

By Selena Fragassi
Published: September 20th, 2010 | 1:00pm

If you’re of the American Pie generation, you may best remember UK band James from the movie’s incessant promos, which bore the band’s hit, “Laid,” as noxiously reinterpreted by Matt Nathanson. But Generation Y’ers, there is so much more to this Manchester outfit, all of which is evident on their latest release, The Morning After the Night Before. Originally prepared as a set of two mini releases, this double-disc collection shows the polar opposite reflections of singer-songwriter Tim Booth, who rejoined the band in 2007 after a six-year hiatus. Booth has a Morrissey knack for creating high-spirited pop tracks (The Night Before) that veil miserable insecurity while also traversing more low-key balladry that explicitly puts his psychoses on beautiful display (The Morning After).

Morning starts solid with an Ian Astbury growl offered on the bluesy bedlam of “Got the Shakes,” but slowly drifts back into a pre-dawn haze with the twangy “Dust Motes” and the unripe softness of “Kaleidoscope.” The album redeems itself with the steamrolling “Lookaway,” a song with flexing string elements that could wrap a pretty bow around a Nick Hornby book/film package.

If The Morning After is befitting of an early pre-coffee lull, then The Night Before is a downright jolting affair. Night begins with a “leap of faith” on “It’s Hot,” with its hearty busking not far from the modern folk of Mumford & Sons. Later, “Dr Hellier” is a proto-garage form of the Strokes from the other side of the pond while “Shine” dusts off the old six-string to a gleaming finish. “Crazy” is the standout of the album with a regaling horn section and Booth’s pleading voice reassuring us he is, in fact, not crazy. But if crazy begets this quality, we’re all the more for it.

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