1. Z (2005)

For MMJ fans who had been along for the ride since the late ’90s, I can only imagine the wobbling bass synth reverberations that begin “Wordless Chorus” and open Z must’ve sounded as severe as the grunge squalor of the Edge’s “Zoo Station” riff did after U2 spent the late ’80s mining — perhaps not coincidentally — the same Americana MMJ had leaned on for the first half of their existence. Blankenship was still on board, just providing dubbier bass lines; James’s childhood friend Patrick Hallahan took over drums before It Still Moves and stuck around; Quaid had been replaced by multi-instrumentalist Carl Broemel; and they’d added keyboardist Bo Koster. James, as always, remained at the helm, and now led his band into ever stranger and unexpected places. This is MMJ Part 2.

With a new lineup came other changes. After Quaid’s departure, the band no longer recorded on his parents’ farm. James stopped producing the records, and the band tapped John Leckie, who made perfect sense. The British producer’s resume included engineer work on classic albums like George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, thus resonating with MMJ’s roots, but some of his (relatively) more recent producer credits included The Verve’s A Storm In Heaven and Radiohead’s The Bends. MMJ were chasing sound now. Perhaps realizing that It Still Moves was about as far as they could push that particular template, the band began favoring shorter, tighter songs. “Gideon” is arguably the band’s most epic song, and it all happens within three and a half minutes, building from a gentle kick drum and arpeggiated guitar, and then, just two minutes in, boiling over into some of the most emotive wails James has put to tape. Songs like “It Beats 4 U” and “Anytime” were economical and infectious, while still achieving trippy atmospheres of keyboard and guitar textures.

For many, Z was the entry point into MMJ’s career. Dabbling more directly in indie rock brought them closer to the mainstream, and made them more accessible for listeners put off by any sort of twang. It set the stage for the commercial success of Evil Urges and Circuital, despite being lesser albums. I’ll admit a personal bias: I was 15 when Z came out, and it was with this album and seeing MMJ open for Pearl Jam that summer that my MMJ fandom began. A dozen shows later, and even with gradually coming to prefer It Still Moves and At Dawn, Z looms large in some undeniable way. It Still Moves feels definitive in some specific way to the band. Z is probably the closest they’ve come to recording a classic album, a near-impeccable LP that, perhaps more importantly than providing a capstone, kicked the door down to the next stage, the one we’re currently still in. It’s a pleasure to be along for the ride.