Evil Urges

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title: "Evil Urges" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2008-albums", "my-morning-jacket-albums", "rough-trade-records-albums", "ato-records-albums", "albums-produced-by-jim-james", "albums-produced-by-joe-chiccarelli"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Urges" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

Field	Value
name	Evil Urges
type	Album
artist	My Morning Jacket
cover	MMJ EvilUrges.jpg
released	June 10, 2008
recorded	Avatar Studios, New York City November 2007
genre	{{flatlist
length	55:39
label	ATO (US/Canada)
Rough Trade (UK)
Spunk (Australia)
producer	{{flatlist
prev_title	Z
prev_year	2005
next_title	Circuital
next_year	2011
misc	{{Singles
name	Evil Urges
type	studio
single1	Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2
single1date	2008
single2	I'm Amazed
single2date	2008
::

| name = Evil Urges | type = Album | artist = My Morning Jacket | cover = MMJ EvilUrges.jpg | alt = | released = June 10, 2008 | recorded = Avatar Studios, New York City November 2007 | venue = | studio = | genre = {{flatlist|

• Indie rock
• neo-psychedelia | length = 55:39 | label = ATO (US/Canada) Rough Trade (UK) Spunk (Australia) | producer = {{flatlist|
• Joe Chiccarelli
• Jim James | prev_title = Z | prev_year = 2005 | next_title = Circuital | next_year = 2011 | misc = {{Singles | name = Evil Urges | type = studio | single1 = Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2 | single1date = 2008 | single2 = I'm Amazed | single2date = 2008

Evil Urges is the fifth studio album by My Morning Jacket. It was released by ATO Records on June 10, 2008. The album was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, ultimately losing to Radiohead's In Rainbows.

Writing and recording

Writing began in Colorado, while recording was done in Manhattan. According to producer Joe Chiccarelli, the demos he was sent, which were "very groove-oriented with hints of old-fashioned R&B", suggested a more urban record than previous albums, and as such he recommended the band record in an urban environment that had some "life and vitality". After looking into various options including Vancouver and San Francisco, the band eventually decided to record in New York.

Singer and lead songwriter Jim James said that the band wanted to get away from "normal rock and roll sounds" and emulate more of the band's live sound. Many of the songs were previewed at the 2008 South by Southwest music festival.

Promotion

My Morning Jacket played "I'm Amazed" and "Evil Urges" on Saturday Night Live on May 10, 2008. At the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2008, the band played a near four hour set, playing all songs on the album except "Look at You" and "Remnants".

The season six premiere of The CW's teen drama One Tree Hill was titled "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream" and featured the songs "Highly Suspicious" and "Look at You."

On November 22, 2009, the American Dad! episode "My Morning Straitjacket" featured the band members playing themselves. The episode utilised four songs from Evil Urges: "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2", "I'm Amazed", "Highly Suspicious" and "Remnants."

Critical reception

| MC = 67/100 | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = | rev2 = The A.V. Club | rev2score = B | rev3 = Entertainment Weekly | rev3score = A | rev4 = The Guardian | rev4score = | rev5 = Mojo | rev5score = | rev6 = Pitchfork | rev6score = 4.7/10 | rev7 = Q | rev7score = | rev8 = Rolling Stone | rev8score = | rev9 = Spin | rev9score = | rev10 = Uncut | rev10score = Evil Urges received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 31 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

::data[format=table]

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Rolling Stone	US	50 Best Albums of the Year	2008	No. 4
Spin	US	40 Best Albums of the Year	2008	No. 16
Paste	US	50 Best Albums of the Year	2008	No. 16
Blender	US	33 Best Albums of the Year	2008	No. 12
WXPN Philadelphia	US	50 Best Albums of the Year	2008	No. 4
WERS Boston	US	50 Best Albums of the Year	2008	No. 10
Q	UK	50 Best Albums of the Year	2008	date=January 2009
::

Track listing

| all_writing = Jim James, except where noted | title1 = Evil Urges | writer1 = Breakdown: My Morning Jacket | length1 = 5:14 | title2 = Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 1 | length2 = 3:51 | title3 = Highly Suspicious | length3 = 3:07 | title4 = I'm Amazed | length4 = 4:35 | title5 = Thank You Too! | length5 = 4:29 | title6 = Sec Walkin | length6 = 3:37 | title7 = Two Halves | length7 = 2:36 | title8 = Librarian | length8 = 4:18 | title9 = Look at You | length9 = 3:30 | title10 = Aluminum Park | length10 = 3:58 | title11 = Remnants | length11 = 3:04 | title12 = Smokin from Shootin | length12 = 5:07 | title13 = Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2 | length13 = 8:14 | title14 = Good Intentions | length14 = 0:06 | total_length = 55:39

Personnel

My Morning Jacket

• Jim James – vocals, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, Omnichord
• Tom "Two Tone Tommy" Blankenship – bass
• Patrick Hallahan – drums, percussion
• Carl Broemel – guitars, vocals, pedal steel, lap steel
• Bo Koster – keyboards, programming, vocals, piano, synthesizers, organ, Rhodes, percussion

Additional personnel

• Jim James, Joe Chiccarelli – production
• Michael Brauer – mixing
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Artie Smith – drum tech
• David Campbell – string arrangements

Assistance

• Rick Kwan, Colin Suzuki, Will Hensley, Kyle Mc Innis, Lowell Reynolds, Andy Taub

Charts

::data[format=table title="Chart performance for ''Evil Urges''"] | Chart (2008) | Peak position | Australian Albums (ARIA) | |---|---|---| | 56 | | | ::

References

References

1. "Evil Urges".
2. ''May 2008 Issue of Spin'', contains interview and new information on Evil Urges.
3. "Pitchfork: My Morning Jacket Reveal Album Title".
4. "Exploring The Alternative Field Nominees".
5. Cohen, Jonathan. (9 April 2008). "Video Preview: My Morning Jacket On 'Evil Urges'".
6. (14 June 2010). "Interview with Joe Chiccarelli". [[HitQuarters]].
7. ''Rolling Stone'' 1050, 2008-04-17, p. 30
8. (13 March 2008). "SXSW 2008: My Morning Jacket".
9. "Saturday Night Live: Shia Lebeouf/My Morning Jacket - TV.com".
10. "Archived copy".
11. Whitney Pastorek. "'American Dad' to welcome My Morning Jacket: Two-Tone Tommy gives us the scoop!".
12. "Reviews for Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket".
13. Leahey, Andrew. "Evil Urges – My Morning Jacket".
14. Petrusich, Amanda. (June 9, 2008). "My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges". [[The A.V. Club]].
15. Pastorek, Whitney. (May 30, 2008). "Evil Urges".
16. Simpson, Dave. (June 6, 2008). "My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges". [[The Guardian]].
17. (July 2008). "My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges". [[Mojo (magazine).
18. Harvey, Eric. (June 9, 2008). "My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges". [[Pitchfork (website).
19. (July 2008). "My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges". [[Q (magazine).
20. Hermes, Will. (June 12, 2008). "Evil Urges".
21. Zimmerman, Shannon. (June 2008). "Free as a Bird". [[Spin (magazine).
22. Richards, Sam. (June 5, 2008). "My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges". [[Uncut (magazine).
23. "News".
24. (1 January 2009). "The 40 Best Albums of 2008".
25. (13 November 2008). "Signs of Life 2008: Best Music".
26. "Blender's Top 33 albums of 2008".
27. (January 2009). "The 50 Best Albums of 2008".
28. {{cite Ryan

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