From my review in today’s copy of The Daily Texan.

Supergroups are scary.

On paper, they always look fantastic: a collection of phenomenal artists mixing and matching their styles until it becomes an amalgamation of brilliance, some unknown mash-up that tickles our eardrums and stimulates a struggling music industry. In reality, they’re often pretty underwhelming, and a lot of times they just suck. So, for the avid listener, the best thing to do is hope for something that’s average and unspectacular, but at least entertaining.

Which brings us to Monsters of Folk. Comprised of Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, and singer/songwriter M. Ward, the band formed five years ago when the musicians would sit in on each other’s sets. They decided to make an album, and what resulted is pretty much exactly what folks heard during the live concerts.

Despite the fact that James and Ward are two of the best folk-rock artists today (we’ll ignore the basic irrelevance of Oberst and Mogis), they simply don’t mesh well together.

There’s not a song on the group’s self-titled debut that’s bad, but it all sounds entirely too familiar. Depending on who’s singing lead vocals, each track simply plays as a My Morning Jacket, M. Ward track or Bright Eyes track, with some extra guest musicians singing backup.

Songs like “Whole Lotta Losin’” and “Baby Boomer” have the bopping ‘50s throwback feel of most of Ward’s songs, and could have easily fit in on his last release, Hold Time. On the other hand, “Man Named Truth” and “Map of the World” have a darker tone — a minor-chord laden tension you’ve come to expect from Bright Eyes. James’ tracks play out the same way, recalling early My Morning Jacket records, before he decided to take a more Prince-like vocal approach.

All of this combines to make Monsters of Folk an interesting but inconsistent release. The four play well together, and when they do harmonize it’s a pleasant mix of some of folk rock’s past and present key players, but there’s nothing to write home about. This album won’t blow your mind, but it will give you pause as you try to decide whether to keep it labeled Monsters of Folk in your iTunes or split up the album into its respective parts, putting each song with its proper singer.