Monsters of Folk: s/t

Label: Shangri-La Music

Here comes the supergroup of our time, an indie Traveling Wilburys. With a name like Monsters of Folk, this could’ve gone either way, really bad or really great; thankfully it’s the latter. The group — made up of Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and Mike Mogis, producer extraordinaire for Saddle Creek — has come up with a great collection of unpretentious songs featuring catchy melodies and hooky choruses. The album opens with the spacey soul-jam “Dear God” and then sets off, moving fluidly between genres, from soaring pop to indie-country-swing, brushing through gospel call-and-response and including a few lush ballads. Surprisingly for such a broad range of ideas, nothing feels forced. The four musicians play everything and switch vocal leads throughout — no need for special guests or studio musicians; a spirit of total collaboration carries the day. (Ian)