Monsters of Folk “Monsters of Folk” Review

Monsters of Folk, the indie rock supergroup consisting of Conor Oberst & Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and M. Ward, will undoubtedly mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. Some will simply be happy that this supremely talented group of friends, who toured under the same moniker a few years back, are finally putting some songs to wax. Others, myself included, will take a step back from the record and come away with the feeling that the group’s self titled debut is little more than a patchwork quilt of songs that would serve no better than B-Sides for their main outfits.

The disc is split into three main sections, with each of the songwriters (Ward, Oberst and James) writing a handful of songs. Ward’s songs are all standard affair for the lackadaisical singer/songwriter who has created solid, if unspectacular, records throughout the decade. While there are people out there who consistently argued the fact with me, I have never been completely won over by M. Ward. His songs is undeniably well written and his albums are always good, but they have never completely grabbed me; the same goes for Ward’s songs on Monsters of Folk. While his tracks (“Whole Lotta Losin’,” “Baby Boomer,” “Goodway,” “Slow Down Jo” and “The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me”) are good, I have yet to find myself rushing to put them on repeat. Jim James is almost as consistent as Ward, but his reverb-drenched weirdo folk reaches higher levels. Outside of the cheesy “Dear God,” James contributes a strong, diverse batch of songs for the album. Highlights include the down home folk of “The Right Place,” “His Masters Voice” and “Magic Marker” along with the space pop of “Losin Yo Head.” These songs all manage to show off the magical falsetto James is so well known for in a more organic realm than that which he’s had with My Morning Jacket since the band’s more experimental turn.

The wild card of the group is Conor Oberst, who contributes, in my opinion, both the best and worst tracks on the disc. This isn’t entirely surprising coming from an artist who has confounded me over the years with his material, which on any given album can range from outrageously cheesy to heartbreakingly moving. The worst offenders on Monsters of Folk are the atrocious “Map of the World” and “Man Names Truth.” The latter finds Oberst starting with the dead weight lyric of “Never buy nothing from a man named truth,” which somehow isn’t the worst part of the song. Oberst redeems himself somewhat with his other material on the disc however, including the strong tracks “Temazcal” and”Ahead of the Curve.” Both tracks sound more like Oberst’s more mature, self-titled work than his earlier, more dramatic Bright Eyes material. The only song not clearly belonging to one artist is the first song that was released from the album, the mid tempo track “Say Please,” which finds all three singers taking turns out front.

Credit should be given to Mike Mogis, the under-appreciated fourth member of the group, who undoubtedly does a good job at his role. While some of the songs are clunkers, they all are produced well and feature a wide range of instruments, many of which are played by Mogis. As I said before, this album will end up being whatever each listener wants it to be. Any time three huge stars like Oberst, Ward and James come together it will not be lacking in attention and praise. While I am a fan of all three members’ main outfits, this disc sounds like a group of friends having a good time, not necessarily artists really trying to make a stirring statement. In the end, the album is mostly filled with an inoffensive, non-confrontational and ultimately sterile batch of songs, which is too bad considering the excellent music each has been known to create in different venues.