Don't Be Strangers: Reviewing Modest Mouse's First Album In 8 Years

Modest Mouse

Somewhere around thirteen years ago, I was hearing a lot of hype about Modest Mouse.  A lot of Hollywood A-list celebrities like Elijah Wood and Heath Ledger were raving about them.  So I decided to check them out.  In a CD shop in Enfield, Connecticut, I purchased their third album, "The Moon & Antarctica".  I hated it.  First of all, Issac Brock's voice was for shit, resorting to growling most of the time.  Plus the music was discordant and grating, slurred and stumbled like it was drunk.  I couldn't stand it.  Over the next year, I would pull it out occasionally listen to it.  I was mad that I spent money on a CD that I hated.  Surprisingly, after several listens, it clicked for me.  I didn't know what it was, but I suddenly loved it.  It had a Dada-esque quality about it.  Plus, I could hear some bands in their that I liked - fellow Pacific Northwest psychedelic band, Sky Cries Mary, but mostly the "Big Sex" EP by Wolfgang Press.  In fact, I still hear that when I listen to it.

So I went out to purchase their fourth album, "Good News For People Who Hate Bad News", which continued on their previous sound, but added a hodge podge of other experiments to create a swirl of sounds that made them one of the most unique bands on the planet at the time - dance hall, New Orleans jazz, folk, bluegrass.  This album incredible back then, and it still is now.  This record was their breakthrough, and with reason.  I can't rave enough about it.

If their fourth record was great,  their fifth album was their masterpiece.  "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" is, hands down, the best Modest Mouse record.  They continued doing what they do best - making energetic, danceable rock songs with sarcastic lyrics.  Not only did they have some awesome guest musicians, like James Mercer of The Shins, but they actually solicited Johnny Marr, a founding former member of The Smiths, to join the band.  I have since come to the opinion that Johnny Marr, not so much Morrissey, was the driving force behind The Smiths, and it showed when Marr joined Modest Mouse.  His guitar danced and flitted through every song, adding a dimension to the music that it never had before.

After the album and subsequent tour, Johnny Marr finished his stint with the band and went on to his solo projects.  But what do you do after you make the perfect album?  With the perfect guitarist?  Apparently, Modest Mouse must have asked themselves the same question, because - apart from one EP - they didn't release another album for eight years.  I'm not sure why.

Strangers To Ourselves

But they were right.  "Strangers To Ourselves" is the sixth Modest Mouse album to date.  And it will never be as good as "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank", but it's still a pretty damn good album.

The album starts with  the dreamy title track, "Strangers To Ourselves" with Brock's soft vocals set to an orchestral arrangement and rubbery guitars.  Then the pace picks up with "Lampshades On Fire", the most typical Mouse song on here with groovy guitars and an infectious beat.  Probably my favorite song on here. "Shit In Your Cut" and "Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996)" experiment with different percussive rhythms while introducing electronic elements to the music.  "Ansel" has a calypso, Caribbean feel to it, yet manages to remain somber.  "The Ground Walks, with Time In a Box" starts the frenzy anew, and I love the ending where all the components of the song unlace, leaving a few electronic blips.  "Coyotes" is a subdued and melancholy waltz about the true story of a coyote who rode the light rail train in Portland.  "Pups To Dust" is fairly unremarkable, if not mildly pleasant while "Sugar Boats" is a trippy romp, all out cabaret, with the ending collapsing into aggressive guitars.

It's funny that my former wife once said that The Killers reminded her of Modest Mouse, particularly Brandon Flower's tremulous voice.  Ironically, "Wicked Campaign" sounds just like a Killers' song.  "Be Brave" is another waltz, but this one is full of rage.  "God Is an Indian and You're An Asshole" is a country-western piece full of Mouse's caustic humor, and "The Tortoise and the Tourist" is a fairly annoying, overly cloying song.  "The Best Room" is fairly stereotypical of this band's songs, a little boring, but the record finishes of with a bang with the ethereal "Of Course We Know".

So Modest Mouse is back after all these years, and with a really good album.  I would expect no less from them.  Hopefully, we will not have to wait as long for the next one.