Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk

These things, they carry their own doom with them don’t they? What I mean is, that by their very nature ”“ the teeth-aching ‘Supergroup’ tag, the piecemeal recording process, the feeling, no matter how wrong, that this is a bit throwaway somehow ”“ these kind of projects are going to be a bit of a mess. Or at least, no matter how coherent or how high the quality of the material, that’s how it’s going to be perceived. All that said they of course carry a certain amount of implied success with them, and for sure there is some great stuff on here. And, yes, some throwaway.Conor Oberst, Jim James, M Ward (and by necessity, Mike Mogis) toured in 2004 ”“ “An Evening with Bright Eyes, Jim James, and M. Ward,” no less - and made a pact to record an album, however long it may take. Monsters of Folk (that name, it must be a parody ”“ that cover, that references The Travelling Wilburys and The Highwaymen, with its Hessian Rushmore is ample evidence of that) is the fruits of these extended labours. And how does it sound? Much as you’d expect, given the personnel ”“ a rough cut of American roots rock, with the 3 main players contributing pretty much what you’d expect. To these ears though, Oberst and M Ward are treading water and have been for a good couple of years. It’s only Jim James who finds moments of transcendence.The first of these is the opening track ‘Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)’ which is a soaring, haunted soul track. It takes what James has been hinting at with the last couple of My Morning Jacket records and runs with it; and as such it’s a profoundly odd way to start what is essentially a country rock album ”“ it both wrong foots you as a listener, and colours what follows with a bland brush. The plodding ‘Say Please’ is up next and is a decent enough track (with a fine solo from Mogis) ”“ it just sounds a little dead after the vocal pyrotechnics of the preceding track. ‘Whole Lotta Losin’’ is similarly afflicted, and you imagine this is the kind of track M Ward breathes out in his sleep by now. ‘Temazcal’, is the first ostensibly ‘Oberst’ track on the album. I’ll be honest here - I pretty much parted company with Oberst post Lifted”¦ to me it was a case of diminishing returns. Not so much that he was a one-trick pony, more that he’d exhausted that well of angst within (real or unreal it didn’t really matter to me). His maturity whether as Bright Eyes or the Mystic Valley Band was a little banal. Indeed, it’s not until James entrance into ‘Temazcal’ that it’s anything but pretty much Oberst-by-numbers.And it’s a recurring theme: ‘Baby Boomer’ and ‘Slow Down Jo’ are more Ward cast-offs, ‘Man Named Truth’ is a charisma black hole, ‘Map of the World’ is another hollowed-out Oberst clone. Then, unexpectedly, the last quarter of the album is everything the Monsters of Folk could have been: it’s James-dominated for sure, but it’s loose, easy and affecting. ‘Losin Yo Head’ is a redneck party, ‘Magic Marker’, featuring some gorgeous 4-part harmonies, lopes along ”“ lead by Mogis’ lovely slide playing. Ward’s ‘Sandman, the Brakeman and Me’ is a perfect vignette, a soft blown dustbowl of a song. The album closes with another piece of quiet wonder from James, his voice multi-tracked and soaring, ‘you’re only gonna hear what you want to hear ”“ do you hear your master’s voice now?’On the whole, I expect this will sell decently enough because of the people involved, and when it’s good, it is very good. However good it is in parts though, it does feel bunged together. But well, these things do carry their doom with them”¦