I've said a lot about Dave Matthew's Band latest album in my original review of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. From the first time I heard the lonely saxophone in the opener "Grux", flamboyantly followed by the energetic "Shake Me Like a Monkey", I knew I would be writing about this album on our Top Ten of 2009. Big Whiskey is pure and unadulterated DMB in all its pre-Stand Up glory: soaring, innovative melodies, varied and intricate drum beats, fantastic musicianship all-around.
In my opinion, the comeback album of the year. The band returns to form in every number, delivering songs with multiple parts and melodies (not the same boring chorus repeated over and over and over, a la "Louisiana Bayou"). Even in the radio-friendly single "Funny the Way It Is", Dave's vocals seem to have more spark and life than they did in half of the songs from their previous release. On other songs, Dave's vocals and the backups really come alive, like "Why I Am" and "Seven"; I missed DMB at the Gorge this year, but I can imagine these songs performed live. The whole sound of this album is bigger, not the sound of a cramped recording studio. Big Whiskey is a timely reminder why we still listen to DMB albums like Under the Table and Dreaming fifteen years later. I would wager that Big Whiskey will still be making its rounds on my iPod playlist fifteen years from now.
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