MY MORNING JACKET

ATO

Remember, back when you were about 13, how kids started, you know, changing? Over the summer between semesters, one kid would grow five inches. One girl would sprout breasts overnight. The pipsqueak's voice dropped an octave or two. In short, everything about these kids changed, and you never knew it was coming.

My Morning Jacket just experienced a growth spurt as well, on a scale no less dramatic than our pubescent peers. Z is an about-face for a band whose reputation was based on an unlikely trinity of long hair, Southern rock and gushing, exaggerated reverb (often referred to as the band's "sixth member"). Out with the longhaired hellraiser aesthetic, in with the refined, mature, shorthaired hellraiser aesthetic. The Southern rock vibe has been muted a bit as well, eclipsed by MMJ's weirder, Pink Floyd-influenced side (which was always simmering on previous albums, anyway).

At least a couple factors were involved. First, two of the group's original five members left (official reason: road weariness). Just as significant, however, was the enlistment of producer John Leckie, who has engineered, produced or mixed such landmark albums as George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

He works the same sort of mojo on Z.

Examples: The silky, analog-synth-heavy groove of the opener, "Wordless Chorus." The spacey, ska-influenced rhythms of lead single "Off the Record." The cataclysmic ruptures of the closer, "Dondante." Frontman Jim James deserves credit for tempering his extravagant wails, and giving way to the many intricately layered guitars that permeate the album.

On that note, Z is the first effort by MMJ to fully embrace a studio vibe. Whereas previous efforts (most notably the brilliant, if premature At Dawn) sounded like a live band in a studio, this one takes the opposite tack. Reverb is no longer the sixth member. Class is. 4.5 stars.

MARK SANDERS

We are the Night Sky

DEADBOY & the ELEPHANTMEN

Fat Possum

Now that nearly all the old north Mississippi bluesmen have died out, Fat Possum has found a niche in garage blues and ragged rock 'n' roll. (Exhibit A: The Black Keys.) Deadboy & the Elephantmen — consisting of Houma, La.-based singer/guitarist Dax Riggs, late of Acid Bath, and drummer Tessie Brunet — are the latest entry. Night Sky is mostly an expected amalgam of lo-fi grind, seething drones and fuzzed-out freakiness. Unexpectedly, the disc also contains a handful of gentle acoustic songs that add a welcome wistfulness. (www.fatpossum.com) 3 stars.

ERIC SNIDER

Like You Were Never There

MOONLIGHT TOWERS

Spinster

This Austin-based quartet goes easy on the roots, favoring instead a clean, power-pop approach, replete with hooky songs, crisp vocal harmonies and beats right out of Badfinger. The danger in this, of course, is sounding like the 977th iteration of The Beatles, but Moonlight Towers delivers the goods with swagger and integrity — and they don't fall into the power-pop trap of being too coy and clever for their own good. (www.moonlighttowers.com) 3.5 stars.

ERIC SNIDER

Imaginational Anthem: A Guitar Anthology

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Near Mint

An orgy of arpeggios, layered picking and dancing fingers, Imaginational Anthem gathers 16 tracks, ranging from 1965 to the present, by titans of the acoustic guitar. The most recognizable names included are late cult heroes John Fahey ("O' Holy Night") and Sandy Bull (an untitled track from '96). Most of the tunes are folk-based, but the collection also veers into the jazzy (Bern Nix's "Low Barometer"), the pyrotechnic (Brad Barr's "Bouba's Bounce") and quasi-classical (a spellbinding guitar/piano duet between Gyan Riley and his legendary father Terry Riley, the only track that's not strictly solo acoustic guitar). 4 stars.

ERIC SNIDER

Still Bill

BILL WITHERS

Sussex

While he didn't garner the acclaim of the Marvin Gayes and Stevie Wonders, Bill Withers was a major player in the soul music explosion of the early '70s. Still Bill, his masterpiece, includes "Lean on Me," "Use Me" and "Who Is He (and What Is He to You)?," one of the best musical evocations of jealousy ever made.

Eric Snider

This article appears in Nov 23-29, 2005.