Here’s your latest reason to hate NPR: When the latest R.E.M. album, “Collapse Into Now,” was released earlier this month, hosts, pundits, commentators and various hangers-on for the revered radio news source hyperbolically claimed it was the music set longtime fans of the band have desired for years.

Forget, if you can, that the band and its label had given NPR the rights to “stream” the full album on its site, and that the move made it look like NPR was, in essence, patting itself on the back for the seeming coup.

And forget, if you can, that NPR apparently forgot all about R.E.M.’s 2008 release, “Accelerate,” and the accompanying two-disc live set, “Live at the Olympia in Dublin: 39 Songs.” Both of these were assured returns-to-form that sated many an R.E.M. fans’ appetite for confident, jangly, hooky guitar/folk-pop.

Also forget that the NPR claims made a lot of R.E.M. aficionados sound like lifeless music dinosaurs who had nothing better to do with their time than await some sort of musical Second Coming.

Now for the good news part of our program: “Collapse Into Now” is a decent little R.E.M. album. There’s a lot to like in the dozen song selection. If nothing else, this and “Accelerate” show the band has left the poorly received “Around the Sun’s” gimmicky electronica and sound effects behind.

(The core trio of vocalist/lyricist Michael Stipe, guitarist/stringed instrument wiz Peter Buck and bass guitarist Mike continues to be augmented by co-producer Jacknife Lee, Ministry and Revolting Cocks skins pounder William Rieflin and multi-instrumentalist Scott McCaughey, of Young Fresh Fellows and various guitar-pop endeavors.)

Unlike “Accelerate,” which seemed to take its cues from the no-nonsense R.E.M. rockers “Fables of the Reconstruction” and “Lifes Rich Pageants” (sic), the songs here recall both the poppier relaxed rock aspects of “Out of Time” and “Automatic for the People.”

“All the Best” and its boastful “let’s show the kids how to do it” line, as well as both “Every Day is Yours to Win” and “That Someone is You” are all clear, anthemic winners.

But the whole collection is not without its share of clinkers. “Oh My Heart” may have that customary R.E.M. jangle, but its tune is stuck in neutral, with Stipe has written some less than inspired lyrical couplets for it. As for “Alligator_Aviator-Autopilot_Antimatter” … seriously, WTF?

Look, this is not all-time classic R.E.M. At this point in their career, we’re lucky just to get a solidly enjoyable album. Luckily, most of the musical quibbles here are minor ones. And besides, in a musical landscape ruled by Justin Biebers, Black Eyed Peas and American Idol competitors, we should just be grateful to still have R.E.M. So maybe NPR had it right all along …

Jerk-Bot is the robotic nom de plume of Utah-based movie reviewer and writer Jeff Michael Vice, who invites you to enjoy his other endeavors, for Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off review program, MSN’s Parallel Universe, X-96’s Radio From Hell, Geek Show Podcast and the Mediocre Show.