Pop Talk by George Varga

The new Traveling Wilburys? The new Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young?

There are few better recent examples of lazy music journalism than the repeated published references that hail the indie-rock band Monsters of Folk as this year's answer to the above two legendary supergroups. Beyond the fact that each of MOF's four members work with their own bands, as solo artists or both, when it comes to music and the magnitude of their success, MOF is no more the new Traveling Wilburys or CSN&Y than The Fray is the new Beatles.

"I think the words lazy and journalism go together quite well," said My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, one-quarter of MOF.

Those sentiments were echoed by Mike Mogis, fellow MOF member.

"I've never bought a Traveling Wilburys record, so I don't know what they sound like," Mogis said. "It's an easy, cheap comparison and lazy journalism, but I don't care."

But Matt Ward, James and Mogis' MOF bandmate, isn't bothered by the misguided references to CSN&Y or the Traveling Wilburys (the late 1980s band that teamed Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne).

"I love the Traveling Wilburys and I like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, so it's not anything I'm annoyed by at all," said Ward, who has made six solo albums as M. Ward and recorded with Bright Eyes' leader Conor Oberst, the fourth member of MOF.

"When people hear or see something they haven't seen or heard before, their first impulse is to compare it to something they know," Ward continued. "I do the same thing. It's human nature to compare things and there's no harm in that."

What is more notable about MOF, whose music does reference everyone from Johnny Cash and John Lennon's solo work to The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, is that this is its first concert tour in five years — and only its second ever.

The ad-hoc group traces its roots to a tour in 2004, when the four musicians would sit in with each other to form what Mogis slyly describes as "the best Bright Eyes cover band" in the world.

"Mike is the busiest guitar player in indie-rock and I'm always in the studio working with Bright Eyes," Mogis said. "Between our first tour and this one, Matt put out three albums, Jim did two with My Morning Jacket and his solo EP, and Conor did two with Bright Eyes and one on his own.

I'm surprised it didn't take longer for us (MOF) to get back together. But this is the most fun I've ever had making a record."

Fifteen songs strong, MOF's self-titled debut album boasts an earthy, folk-rock-tinged flavor on some of its songs. It was recorded first at Oberst and Mogis' studio in Omaha, then at Malibu's Shangri-La Studios, where Bob Dylan, Neil Young and The Band have recorded.

The MOF album also finds the band's members trading off on an array of acoustic and electric instruments, with virtually no outside musical assistance.

"We all tried a lot of instruments we were not familiar with," Ward recalled. "Jim brought in some synthesizers I'd never seen before. I don't normally play bass, but I did on this record. Everyone was stretching out."

One of the most unexpected stretches comes with the opening song, "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)."

A soul-inspired ballad, it features James crooning in a falsetto that falls midway between Lennon at his most tender and R&B pioneer Curtis "Superfly" Mayfield, whose harp-dominated orchestrations the song also references.

"Curtis Mayfield is like the Buddha for me," James said. "His orchestral arrangements and use of harp really blow my mind. I think about him and John Lennon all the time; their importance cannot be overstated. We usually try not to copy, so I hope we come through (the music), too."

MOF's first tour in half a decade also stands out for a reason unrelated to music directly. In every city the band performs in, a dollar from each ticket sold will benefit a nonprofit organization in that city.

James, in turn, credits Air Traffic Control, an Oakland-based social justice organization that connects musicians and their managers with community activists, advocacy organizations and issue advocacy campaigns. Several years ago, he attended an Air Traffic Control retreat in New Orleans, designed to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"That was a real eye-opener for me," James said.

"I've never wanted to be a real preachy kind of person or ram things down people's throats, because I think people are pretty smart. At the same time, if we're lucky enough to make a living from our music and have people listen, I'll do everything I can to use music to help inform people about important events or organizations in their community that they can help."

To find out more about George Varga and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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