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Music on TV This Week

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Musicians "Two-Tone" Tommy (L) and Jim James (C) fom the band My Morning Jacket perform during day 3 of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival held at the Empire Polo Field on April 27, 2008 in Indio, California

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May 06, 2008, Drake Lelane

My Morning Jacket, the greatest live band in the world, will be showcasing new songs on SNL this week, featuring singer Jim James' soulful falsetto on the lead single and title track "Evil Urges." The song deals with the struggle to find faith in the skewed morality of today's organized religion -- but for anyone who's seen the band live, MMJ are a religion in and of themselves, garnering a Dead-like following. James confesses to having listened to a lot of gospel and '70s soul while writing their latest release, Evil Urges, which explains some of the added funk and soul in the Kentucky rock band's sound. Between that and the AM-Radio-influenced ballads, you'd think the band might have gone soft, but as Coachella festivalgoers can attest, the band still can melt your face. (See fan captured video.)

Speaking of soul, funk and the melting of faces, I am incredibly pumped to see UK's The Heavy playing Carson Thursday night, as their gritty mix of 70's funk and soul with garage band aesthetics is one of my favorite finds of the year. The Superfly-meets-The Sonics sound of "That Kind of Man" makes it my pick for crossover song of the summer.