The music’s plausibility speaks to the blandness of some contemporary rock music. When Steven Hyden, author of “Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock,” heard “Dust on the Wind,” he felt it could be a parody of the generic Los Angeles bands that play mellow rock.

“There’s lots of bands like this trying to take the essence of late-’60s, early-’70s folk rock and replicate it in the most faithful way possible,” Hyden said in a phone call. “If you just played [“Dust on the Wind”] for me without any context, I would have no reason to think it was fake. I would think it was a very derivative band that made a listenable-sounding song.”

The band’s use of AI troubled many, particularly listeners such as Jamie Jones, an electrical engineer from Manchester, England, who stumbled on the music through streaming algorithms. When “Dust on the Wind” appeared in his Discover Weekly queue, he assumed the song was performed by humans. Jones now says he hopes Spotify won’t program AI-assisted songs in playlists without adding a label first.

“If they’re putting in five songs to the playlist from the same AI band, and Spotify knows it’s AI, you’re taking food out of people’s mouths who are trying to make it in that business,” Jones said. “That’s pretty wrong.”

Spotify did not respond to a request for comment.

Others were less concerned about the music’s digital provenance. When looking for music for his yoga classes, Oklahoma native Byron de Marsé often scrolls on Instagram. He initially heard the Velvet Sundown’s “Drift Beyond the Flame” in a video of someone dancing. Before long, he worked the song into a yoga class, not realizing AI was involved. “It’s got this emotional tone to it, so it’s good for the end of a power yoga or vinyasa, where you’re deeply stretching,” said de Marsé, who plans on continuing to use the song in classes.

Beyond the philosophical questions about their use of AI, the success of the Velvet Sundown is a strange testimony to the enduring appeal of classic rock. All of the superficial signifiers of classic rock are here, including lyrics about boots, freedom and flags flying. If you squint, “Drift Beyond the Flame” could be a B-side from Neil Young’s “Harvest,” while “Rebel Yell” is not far from a Bad Company cover.

On “Vietnam War Music,” one of the Spotify playlists where the band’s songs appear, the entire Velvet Sundown discography sits alongside no less than 19 songs by beloved swamp rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival. Stu Cook, CCR’s bassist, doesn’t think the Velvet Sundown does justice to his band’s era of music.

“I just can’t get past how boring the band is. There’s just nothing inspiring at all about any of it,” Cook said. “In a kind of off-the-wall way, I’m honoured that they’re including aspects of anything that Creedence represents in their AI efforts, whoever’s behind all this. To me, it doesn’t sound anything like Creedence.”