Monsters of Folk

Now that I've installed a sweet new CD player in my car I finally have a chance to complete the swap duties I've pledged to fulfill. My first review is of the self-titled album by the Monsters of Folk, a 'supergroup' comprised of Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis (aka Bright Eyes), Jim James (of MMJ fame) and Matt Ward. When I first popped it in and heard the slow jam beat, harp strumming and falsetto 'be-bopping' of the first track I was sure that I was playing the wrong disc and thought it was a malfunction of my early 90's era 24 disc Fisher CD changer. I even stopped and ejected it to check (though I was sure these sounds weren't coming from anything that would already be in my collection). As it turns out it was the right disc so started it again. I quickly decided that that first track was aptly titled because I thought 'Dear God, this is unpleasant.' And so, for a few minutes I was somewhat disappointed. I had been anxious to hear this album because I'm a fan of all the component Monsters' work and had high hopes for the collaboration. I was also shocked (and still am) that they would choose 'Dear God' as their second single from this album.

But I pressed on, and thankfully, things quickly took a turn for the better. The second track (their first single) 'Say Please' is a rollicking tune with an infectious chorus that gives an early opportunity for the big three to tag team on lead vocals. Next comes 'Whole Lotta Losin' which continues the trend and is the excellent shining example of why these guys get mentioned in the same breath as The Traveling Wilburys so often. It's a fun song and you can tell they have fun performing it. The next several songs ('Temezcal' through 'Ahead of the Curve' minus 'Baby Boomer') are basically the big three taking turns laying down solo tracks with chorus harmonies thrown in by the other two. The M.Ward tracks sound exactly like M.Ward old-timey songs. The Jim James songs sound exactly like MMJ twangy alt-country. Bright Eyes sounds like Bright Eyes. Though not as collaborative as I might have wanted, they are very good songs and getting new solo tracks from any of these guys is certainly not a bad thing. (A brief side note: whether you love him or hate him you can not deny that Conor Obsert is a goddamn good songwriter.)

But it was that beard-rock harmonizing (see Fleet Foxes) that I was craving and they finally brung it on the slowed-down 'Slow Down Jo', and kept it going on the rocking 'Losin Yo Head,' two of the strongest tracks on the album. Then a quick hiccup on 'Magic Marker.' I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but this song kind of grosses me out when he sings about how many licks it takes. The second Yim misstep of the album. Then things get going again with my personal favorite track, the dark 'Map of the World.' Though distinctly a Conor track, this is where the full potential of the blending of these three voices is realized. One more M.Ward track that could have been a B-side from Post War and finally the set closes with 'His Master's Voice,' an emotionally-charged and appropriate conclusion and the place where Jim makes amends for his earlier transgressions.

While this album is an instance where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, I am thoroughly enjoying it. The above comments were based on a handful of spins and I suspect that there are some growers in here which will over time continue to endear it to me. I also suspect that these dudes had a really good time putting this together. They came through Portland not long ago and I passed on the show because the tickets were a little steep. I hope not to miss them next time, I'm sure it's a loose and fun show. Here's hoping there are more albums and more tours to come.

I give it 9 eyeballs (out of a possible 14)

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