For a band that harnesses so much energy onstage, the Dave Matthews
Band studio experience has been exceedingly bland and lifeless over the
past decade. Albums like 2001’s Everyday and 2005’s Stand
Up sound like a great jam band on the decline —
directionless, passionless and losing the ability to perform as a unit
without a stadium full of ravenous fans fueling the group’s fusion of
pop, jazz and rock. On their first album in four years, DMB have
finally recaptured that earthy and innovative alt-pop sound they made
famous in the ’90s. Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King is a 13-song set of focused and sophisticated polyrhythmic grooves,
bursting with instrumental virtuosity and energy.
The album pays tribute to founding member and saxophonist LeRoi
Moore, who died last summer after an ATV accident; he’s the “GrooGrux
King” of the title. A slow sax solo called the “Grux” opens the album,
leading the five-piece into the fiery, frat-boy funk of “Shake Me Like
a Monkey,” their most raucous single since 1996’s “Too Much.” More so
than any album before, Big Whiskey balances that great DMB
freeform rock sound (“Why I Am” and “Spaceman”) with deeper emotional
chords that connect (“Funny the Way It Is” and “Dive In”). They even
venture into new territory with the brooding symphonic bombast of
“Squirm.” Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King shows DMB
shedding their slick, mainstream skin to again dance naked around the
bonfires of past decade’s high-powered roots-rock movement. It’s a
fitting tribute to their fallen comrade. — Keith
Gribbins
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2009.
