Today marks the release date of Dave Matthews Band‘s latest (and first LeRoi-less) album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, and reviews are already pouring in like streams of…bourbon? Scotch? Ah, forget the substance—is the press toasting our boys, or roasting our boys?
The Washington Post places its Groo review below Book World’s take on Richard Wolffe’s Renegade: The Making of a President. (Geez, Obama, share the spotlight.) Allison Stewart writes that the album "marks the first time in years they’ve sounded both interesting and interested," and speculates whether Groo will be the last DMB album. Rolling Stone senior editor David "My Record Collection is Bigger than Yours" Fricke awards 4.5 of 5 stars, praises drumer Carter Beauford and bassist Stefan Lessard and says Matthews "shreds his voice like Eddie Vedder against a brick wall of Pearl Jam" on the song "Time Bomb."
Most publications seem to praise the Freudian sex-and-death drive of the new album, but Paste notes that "the weight of their pain creeps into the nooks where a joyful ‘Tripping Billies’-era DMB might have stuffed an extra dance." LA Times writer Ann Powers responds that, no, there’s an admirable strength to finding some joyous moments amidst the darkness.
How does Dave Matthews Band feel about the album? As previously reported on C-VILLE, our Big Whiskey boys were scheduled to take to the stage at New York’s Beacon Theatre last night for a concert that streaming media website Hulu would simulcast. Watch the show below for context clues, but get comfy—the set is only a few minutes shy of three hours:
What’s your take on the album? Is Big Whiskey worth a shot? Leave your thoughts below.