Monster of Folk - Monsters of Folk (2009)

Monsters of Folk is a "supergroup" consisting of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes), M. Ward, and Jim James (My Morning Jacket). This doesn't meet my astronomically high expectations, and is merely very good. I think the reason for this is that the members were so excited to work with each other that they were content to explore their bandmates' sounds. Instead of really great collaborations between these four, we have songs that sound like M. Ward songs ("Whole Lotta Losin," "Goodway"), songs that sound like MMJ songs ("Dear God," "Losin Yo Head") and songs that would fit on a recent Bright Eyes album ("Ahead of the Curve," "Man Named Truth"). Even though most of these songs feature the entire band's voices, they wind up sounding more like one of the artists. Jim James' backing vocals contribute nicely to "Map of the World" but it still sounds like a b-side from Bright Eyes' "Cassadaga." Mike Mogis was that guy who stayed on the stage during Bright Eyes shows when everyone except Conor and some other guy left the stage; when I saw them this was to play "When the Brakeman Turns My Way." The songs Mike leads are good enough to justifiably be put alongside the other ones here. "Magic Marker" is his, and though his bandmates provide nice vocal harmonies, it suggests that a Mike Mogis solo album would be worth tracking down. "Baby Boomer" is probably the closest thing to what I'd expected from this album, since it at least seems to have all four singing equally. This is a very, very good folk album. It captures the aesthetic perfectly, but if you like any of these artists' previous work, you will no doubt be expecting more. This is unfortunate, since this is very good. LISTEN

TRACKLIST

1. Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.) (5:07)
2. Say Please (2:48)
3. Whole Lotta Losin' (2:45)
4. Temazcal (3:49)
5. The Right Place (3:48)
6. Baby Boomer (2:53)
7. Man Named Truth (3:51)
8. Goodway (2:01)
9. Ahead of the Curve (3:40)
10. Slow Down Jo (3:21)
11. Losin' Yo' Head (4:37)
12. Magic Marker (3:20)
13. Map of the World (4:24)
14. The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me (3:23)
15. His Master's Voice (4:50)