A comfortable group of Monsters

There’s no roaring or mayhem on the group’s superb and spooky self-titled debut, out Sept. 22. Instead there is a lot of finely crafted singer-songwriter fare from three of indie rock’s most vaunted troubadours - M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes - and one of the genre’s most respected musician-producers Mike Mogis, who has produced Ward and played in Bright Eyes.

The quartet originally hooked up during a joint outing in 2004. That tour’s road manager bestowed the tongue-in-cheek moniker - a play on the ’80s Monsters of Rock metal tours - and ever since they’ve been trying to find a way in their busy schedules to work together again.

“We haven’t been strangers over the last few years,’’ says Ward, who in addition to his solo career works on the side project She & Him with actress Zooey Deschanel. “We’ve been playing on each other’s projects here and there but, yeah, getting the four of us into a room together required arranging.’’

Once that arranging was done the group decamped to the studio built between Oberst and Mogis’s adjoining Omaha homes and set some ground rules: Everyone would bring in song ideas that would be worked on by the entire group and there would be no other outside musicians. This was to be a proper band.

“Part of the joy of this record was that spirit of camaraderie and allowing your friend to basically finish your sentences for you,’’ says Ward, who reports that there was nary a discouraging word heard during the process, not even over lunch. “Every song has four inputs. It was an exciting experiment.’’

Mogis, on the phone from Nebraska, echoes the thought and adds that giving up the alpha dog positions they were used to in their respective main careers was a real attraction. “I think that was a rewarding experience for everybody. For me to not be the sole decision maker on takes and edits was a welcome thing.’’

“I think we all encouraged each other to experiment,’’ Ward says from his home in Portland, Ore. “And I really loved seeing Mike, Conor, and Jim play the drums. We were all trying new instruments on this record. We knew we wanted that sound, whatever that sound is, to be the sound of the record.’’ (As impressed as he was with his bandmates, for practical reasons the group is employing a drummer for the tour, which comes to the Orpheum Theatre Nov. 3.)

That sound is wide-ranging, from dusty back-porch Americana to burbling electro-folk. While individual contributions and influences can be spotted - Ward agrees it’s a safe bet that George Harrison is every Monster’s favorite Beatle - it is a surprisingly cohesive effort that occasionally even fools the listener as to who is handling the lead vocal on a given track.

The credit for that goes to Mogis, says Ward. “It required a lot of experiments with different gear, and he was able to find what I think is just this incredible common ground between all of our voices.’’

Ironically, Mogis is the only one who doesn’t step up for a lead. He says with a laugh, “look who I’m up against; it’s not a good time for a beginner to just throw his hat in the ring.’’

Despite the band name, the album works up a good, rocking sweat in places and throws in some off-kilter elements, a left-field appearance by steel drums here, a smidge of synthesizer there.

“I think that if people go into the record thinking they’re just going to hear four guys with acoustic guitars they’re going to be surprised,’’ Ward says.

When asked which supergroup the Monsters feel most creative kinship with, Ward isn’t sure. “We’ve been trying as best as we can to answer the question, but it’s a hard one. I guess we don’t see ourselves as a supergroup; we’ve been saying we see ourselves as a superior group,’’ he says with a laugh. “It dodges the question anyway.’’

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com.