Rainy Day Music is the seventh studio album by American rock band The Jayhawks, released on April 8, 2003. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 51, selling 19,000 copies that week.[1]
History
At the time of the recording, The Jayhawks consisted of the trio of Gary Louris and long-time members Marc Perlman and Tim O'Reagan. New guitarist Stephen McCarthy replaced guitarist Kraig Johnson. The initial release included a bonus CD of six songs, including a solo live performance by Louris of "Waiting For the Sun", the lead-off track of the group's 1992 album Hollywood Town Hall, on April 26, 2002 at The Woman's Club, Minneapolis, MN.
Rainy Day Music received generally positive reviews from critics.[2]Dirty Linen described the album as "a low-key effort that features delicate harmonies, recalling California relatives such as Poco and the post-Gram ParsonsBurrito Brothers".[3]Uncut called the album "all acoustic guitars, rich jangling melodies and heavenly harmonies" and wrote that Gary Louris "has come up with some of his most memorable compositions."[4]Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly described it as "folk-rock laced with banjos, accordions, and pedal steel" and "the roots move one suspects fans have wanted for years, its classic rock flavor echoing the Byrds, CSNY, and Poco".[5]Mojo wrote that "their new-found economy makes for some pretty lovely highpoints" and that "Louris is unquestionably a virtuoso, playing his parts with a decorous restraint, and contributing cooing, affectingly human vocals."[6]
In his review for AllMusic, Zac Johnson, noting the return to roots music versus the band's more pop-oriented previous albums, praised the first six songs but felt that "the second half stumbles", concluding that "it's certainly an album that gets better with each listen, so it may yet prove to be worth its weight in acoustic gold."[7]Pitchfork reviewer Andrew Bryant agreed that the first half surpasses the second, stating that the latter songs "simply sound forced, pushing the combination of what constitutes alt-country and folk-rock to its limit of self-parody, and at times irreversibly crossing that line", calling the album "the sound of a dog (or more appropriately a bird) chasing its own tail, content with plugging away at the same formula as long as there's still precedence for satisfying their musical niche."[8]
In 2009, Paste Magazine placed the album #44 on their "The 50 Best Albums of the Decade" list.[9]
