On collaboration, everything old sounds new again

A few months back, the idea that the semi-hipster likes of Ryan Adams, James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, and Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne were collaborating on a new America album seemed odd. What in the horse-with-no-name was going on here? What's next? Conor Oberst, John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Damien Kulash of OK Go teaming up with England Dan and John Ford Coley ?

Then I listened to the album.

On the two-disc "Here & Now ," out today, America-ns Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley are still main lining the mellow gold of their '70s heyday and, with a little help from their friends, giving off a peaceful, easy feeling. A pleasant folk-pop mix of light acoustic guitars and warm harmonies, the album sounds like vintage America, but fresh enough to slide onto the WBOS playlist.

That sunny morning blend -- itself derived from forebears and contemporaries such as CSNY, the Eagles, and Jackson Browne -- has been more influential than Beckley and Bunnell have been given credit for. Just ask new indie darlings Midlake , listen to the gentler side of Nada Surf -- whose optimistic "Always Love" is covered here -- or dig up Iha's soft-rocking 1998 solo album "Let It Come Down ." America's current collaborators, coproducers Iha and Schlesinger especially, aim to set the record straight.

And on "Here & Now" they do. While Schlesinger pens the album's catchiest number -- the pure pop jewel "Work to Do" -- and Adams and Ben Kweller enliven the agreeably dusty alt-country outing "Ride On," Bunnell and Beckley deserve most of the credit: They wrote or co-wrote eight of the 12 tracks.

The pair remains a good vocal match, easily trading off singing and songwriting duties. They inject a welcome bit of humor into the mostly standard songs about love in all its stages, from chipper newness to knotty middle periods to conclusive ends.

The second disc in the "Here & Now" set is a 2005 live recording of the band's greatest hits. While "Muskrat Love" remains indefensible, and the vocals here are a little rougher than on the studio disc, songs such as "Ventura Highway," "Daisy Jane," and "A Horse With No Name" still shimmer like the view of the waves from the Pacific Coast Highway at sunset.

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com. For more on music visit boston.com/ae/music/blog.