The Salt Lake Tribune

Review by David Burger

The Dave Matthews Band's new "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" is the group's first album since the death last summer of founding member LeRoi Moore, a jazzy saxophonist known as the GrooGrux King. Death is a cloud the shadows much of the music -- notably in brief instrumentals featuring Moore that open and close the album -- but ironically, the rest of the band has never sounded more immediate and alive. Producer Rob Cavallo, known for his hard-edged work with Green Day, coaches the remaining quartet out of what might have been a funk. Instead, the band is a melodic, textured guitar-fueled punch that has the sting and strength of cask-strength whiskey. To paraphrase Bono, they kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.

Rating: B+