SONG OF THE DAY: July 17th

Jul 17, 2009 191 Comments by

Monsters of Folk, “Say Please”

First of all, please don’t immediately navigate away from this page: I promise you the horrible, horrible name “Monsters of Folk” does not bely equally crappy music to follow. This indie-folk supergroup, comprised of Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and M. Ward, could definitely have come up with a better name, but the sheer volume of talent included therein should be enough to at least intrigue music fans.

The first song released off their upcoming September album just cropped up on their Web site this morning and is entitled, “Say Please.” I’ll be honest: it’s not the greatest song in the history of the world. However, it is a fairly straight-forward, solid folk rock song. The group eschews the traditional lead vocalist, instead opting for group vocals throughout. The voices of Oberst, James and Ward blend surprisingly well, and certainly sound better than I’d anticipated from Oberst and Ward’s limited vocal ranges coming in contact with James’ heavenly falsetto.

The song feels like it would fit best on Oberst’s recent solo albums, boasting a more expansive, Americana-tinged feel than the bedroom poetry of his earlier Bright Eyes releases. As previously stated, Monsters of Folk (that really is a terrible name) aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile. The musicianship is tight, the lyrics engaging, the melody memorable — everything we have come to expect from these performers in their individual ventures. This is just flat-out fun, immensely entertaining, well-crafted folk rock — and that’s not a bad thing.

As always, please feel free to listen to Monsters of Folk’s “Say Please” and share your thoughts in the comment space below.

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