Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock and friends have been proving, since they formed in 1993, that they are a force to be reckoned with. They have quite the impressive back catalogue, with albums like “The Lonesome Crowded West” and “The Moon and Antarctica” that are regarded as staples of the indie-rock genre. Yet somehow when their name gets brought up, the most common reaction is “Oh yeah, the guy’s who did that song ‘Float On,’ right?”
“Float On” is referred to as their “mainstream breakthough,” but it really wasn’t. The song may have broken into the mainstream, but the band itself only got a foot in the door. Naturally, they received more attention than before from a new audience, but this new audience didn’t get much further than the really accessible stuff that Modest Mouse has done, and paid little to no attention to the more creative. “Float On” wasn’t enough to be the hook that drove music fans to start exploring all that Modest Mouse has to offer. This being said, it is definitely a possibility that Brock realized this, and could explain why “We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank” is their most accessible thus far.
Johnny Marr of The Smiths joined Brock to co-write and add new guitar parts to many of the songs on the album. Marr was a core member and lead guitarist of The Smiths, who are described as “the definitive British indie-rock group of the 1980s.” So basically, Marr is a pretty cool guy.
This album isn’t anything too out of the ordinary. There’s no reinventing what Modest Mouse is or anything like that here. The album kicks off with an accordion intro, before the rest of the band joins in. Brock’s voice/howl/growl/bark/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is as interesting and powerful as always, especially when he laughs at the end of every chorus, echoing complete insanity. The next two tracks are “Dashboard” and “Fire It Up,” both solid. The dual guitar attack of Brock and Marr is something else.
Modest Mouse strikes gold for the first time on this album with “Parting Of The Sensory.” It’s the first song on the album to not be filled up with upbeat guitars and catchy melodies, and as they have shown multiple times, Brock’s darker side can often be where they work best. Brock sings: “And like we hope / But change will surely come / And be awful for most but really good for some / I took a trip to the exact same spot / We pulled the trigger, but forgot to cock.” Also, extra points for this song being part of the select group of “not cute” songs on the album.
“Missed The Boat” follows, and it’s hard to believe that this is Modest Mouse at first. It’s such a mainstream tune that even Brock’s weird vocal tendencies couldn’t scare people away from this. A good song nonetheless, with great guitar work and lyrics.
“Little Motel,” “Spitting Venom” and “People As Places As People” are the homeruns of the second half of the disc. It’s no coincidence that these are the strongest and also the one’s where Brock abandons the notion that he has to appeal to everybody and lets his creativity shine.
This is another solid album from Modest Mouse. Only the most hardcore Modest Mouse fans will find themselves disappointed, wishing that Brock had decided to take the road-less-traveled and give us something weird and out of the ordinary. It’s understandable why this annoys people, because Brock’s appeal to a more “normal” songwriting style is at times the album’s biggest setback.
Leave a Reply