Modest Mouse
Good News For People Who Love Bad News
(Epic)
One minivan commercial and Modest Mouse seems to be slowly moving away from the formula that got them attention in the first place--great guitar playing and distinctive songwriting sprinkled with the singular schizoid singing of Isaac Brock.
While Brock’s guitar playing is all his own on this album, he’s often trying (with mixed results) to be other singers: Tom Waits, Jack White, Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev, and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips--even having the Lips in the studio with him to make sure he’s doing it right. The material sneaks through, though, despite the persistence of pastiche. “The World at Large” is classic Mouse in straight-up indie M.C. style, “Bukowski” is a ripe swipe at writers who take themselves too seriously, “Float On” is mid-80s U2 with Tom Verlaine on lead vocals, and “The View” is a rather catchy number that would not be unwelcome on Talking Heads’ Fear of Music album. A guest spot by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, however, was not necessary.
A quick question: Who is this person that Isaac keeps yelling at in all these Modest Mouse albums? I thought that the band’s jump to a major label would make them stop hanging out together, but two albums into their Epic contract and they’re still having the same fight. Lucky for him (and us), it’s an interesting fight.
Posted by colrus at April 20, 2004 01:36 PM | TrackBack