Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King 06 June 2009

This week saw the release of “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King”, the new album from Dave Matthews Band.

Despite being in the top 100 highest selling music acts of all time they are almost unheard of here in the UK. This is the band’s first release since the dead of founding member, saxist LeRoi Moore, who died last year following an accident he had while riding his ATV. The album opens with a classy sax piece played by Moore.

The band’s last studio album, Stand Up, was released in 2005 and frankly wasn’t very good at all. Dave Matthews Band are superb musicians, and their live albums are far more enjoyable than their studio albums because they are best when they play together as a jam band. Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King goes back to their roots, and sounds far more like the rougher sound of their earlier albums like the 1994 album Under The Table & Dreaming, it wasn’t over produced it sounded like they got together in a studio and played the songs.

It’s a wonderful album, full of upbeat and punchy tracks like “Shake Me Like A Monkey”, and quieter soulful tracks like “You and Me”. Rolling Stone called Big Whiskey and GrooGrux King the band’s “best album yet” on the cover of their June 2009 issue and I certainly think although it has been a long time coming, they are finally back on track with possibly the finest studio album of their career.

You can buy the album from all the normal places online, or take a listen to the album for free on Spotify, (UK only).