Monsters of Folk – Monsters Of Folk
Monsters of Folk
You get the feeling that there is something in the water. With Thom Yorke and Flea’s recent collaborations on The Eraser material in L.A. and the recent release of the debut album from the Monsters Of Folk, it would appear that the “super group” is having a musical renaissance. But wait a minute; the Monsters of Folk have existed in some form since a tour (and a vow to write an album) in 2004, the time lapse only serving to highlight the hard-working output of the collective members. Consisting of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and M. Ward, you would expect an album full of Americana and musical innovation and you won’t be disappointed.
On first listening it’s hard to get a grasp of how the collaborations have occurred, who has had what input and how the musicians have combined to create the tracks, but these are rendered unnecessary questions when you stop looking at the band as the sum of it’s parts and rather accept them as a whole. Mogis has used his experience as Saddle Creek’s go-to producer to weave his influence on the album more than his cohorts, and you get the impression that he is the creative lynchpin of the group, serving to hold them together in a coherent form.
Having said that, however, there are several occasions scattered about the album where you might justifiably get the impression that you are listening to a compilation of the artists rather than a bona fide separate entity. For instance, the track ‘Temazcal’ sounds like it could have been taken straight from the sessions from Bright Eyes’ Cassadagga, and there are lots of similarities between the Jim James’ heavy ‘The Right Place’ and My Morning Jacket’s contribution to the Dark Was The Night album.
When the group works together well though, it works brilliantly. ‘Dear God (Sincerely M. O. F.)’ is a fantastic opener and introduction to the album. Starting with a delicate string arrangement and synthesised drums, and utilising three vocalists (performing in a such a restrained way you suddenly find yourself thinking “wait a minute, when did M. Ward start singing?!”), it is a heart wrenching question of suffering which proves to be a fragile highlight of the album.
They played their hand early, and the band’s remit is clear from their name (which can’t stop me thinking of Flight Of The Conchords), this is a folk album. The interpretation of folk varies however, from the stripped-down ‘Slow Down Jo’ to the Country tinged ‘Goodway’ and ‘Baby Boomer’. The variation works well to save the album from dragging, and on the whole the experiment in styles works. The track ‘Losin’ Yo’ Head’ feels somewhat forced onto the tracklist to pick up the pace of the album, and with it approaching the hour mark you wonder if it might not have been better relegated to B-side status.
The album works well, especially when it takes a sidestep from sounding like each artists individual work and takes on it’s own form. However it remains, in places, hit and miss and could benefit from further cohesion between the band members. It is however a pleasant alternative to the contributor’s original work, and with a little further collaboration any new material could become essential listening.
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