I’ll be honest, I wasn’t jumping out of my seat at the release of the Monsters of Folk debut album. The concept was interesting. Joining forces are M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, and Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket. But off the bat there were a few things that turned me off to the ‘Monsters’.

First, the clever name is kind of silly. I understand the irony of a folk collective naming themselves in the same fashion as a truck rally. But being a big fan of modern folk, aside from M. Ward, I think my dream team would have gone in a different direction.

And second, speaking of M. Ward, come on man. You have done two gimmick bands too many. I would have much rather seen this album be simply the Monster of Folk. And She & Him? What the hell was that? Aside from the fact that Zooey Deschanel is the new Natalie Portman in terms of hipster wet dreams, but that album could have used a little less Z and a bit more M. (I know you ladies love it though, so bring on the hate!)

But alas, the Monsters’ album found its way to some of my music libraries and started turning up on some shuffle days. And I suddenly had to admit to myself, some of this ain’t bad, ain’t bad at all.

I’ve still found myself gravitating towards the clearly M. Ward inspired tracks. And even the songs that featured a handful of the singers exploded with promise as soon as Ward’s murky demeanor crept into the song (the Dear God song opens up like a ripe coconut, you’ll see). You won’t be surprised that I’m going to post a couple of the M. Ward heavy tracks.

So if you can tear yourself from the habit of collecting full albums, you can dump some of the more ‘bright’ tracks on this album and find yourself with a really great EP.

Monsters of Folk – Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)

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Monsters of Folk – Goodway

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You can buy the new Monster of Folk album on iTunes.