There's no escaping the aura of The Traveling Wilburys, the power act created by Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne in the the late 1980s. Monsters of Folk [ tickets ], an uber-group of M. Ward, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and two Bright Eyes vets (Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis), operate with a similar sound design: open and round with just enough of an echo to suggest the spaciousness has some barriers. Beyond the signature strumming of Oberst, there's a stylistic melding here, an agreeable holism that overrides any sense that this is an ad hoc quartet of buddies passing around a guitar and improvising harmonies and guitar riffs.

The folk aspect of these Monsters is three or four generations removed; the influence of late-'60s folk and country rockers dominates, most often in lyrics that reflect the era's emotion-baring style. "Man Named Truth," a cautionary tale from Oberst, is the record's most overt mid-'60s-style folk tune. It segues into Matt Ward's "GoodWay," the sort of campfire tune that folk groups crafted into pop tunes during the Kennedy administration; the gentle country rocker "The Right Place" contains all the patina of The Traveling Wilburys' two albums..

The collectively written tunes are catchy, boasting elements we have heard on the members' other albums: My Morning Jackets' eerily distant vocals; Ward's simpatico straightforwardness; Oberst's earnest pleas. They've increased the sonic palette with early '70s Philly soul ("Dear God"), a bit of Rockpile-styled neo-rockabilly ("Whole Lotta Losin'") and folky power-pop ("Baby Boomer"). A unified yet varied album, it's likely the bar will be raised on their 26-date North America and Europe tour.