Modest Mouse... Sigh

What happened to the Modest Mouse I fell in love with?

I should preface this by saying that I don't dislike them because they're popular now. It's not like I've been down since 76 or whatever anyways.

I heard the band for the first time when I snuck into my friend's older brother's room, and listened to Lonesome Crowded West about 10 years ago. But it wasn't until I heard The Moon & Antarctica a few years later that I really fell in love with them. Their music had a way of making me sad. It's not like I enjoyed being sad, though. I mean, come on... I was, for all intents and purposes, still a kid. The music just rattled me to the core. When Isaac Brock told me "The universe is shaped exactly like the earth; if you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were," it was the deepest, most profound thing I had ever heard.

So they've changed. Big deal. It's not a terrible thing. Good News For People Who Love Bad News yielded some great tracks. Of course, it also seemed to start their transition into the pop strata. "Float On," though admittedly a great, great single, may ultimately turn out to be the turning point in this band's career. We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank sounds, to me, like Modest Mouse making music that they think people will like. It doesn't sound honest. It isn't dangerous. I was just talking to a friend about the album, and I think he nailed it when he said that it was too safe for Modest Mouse. It sounds to me like they are trying to recreate Float On with most of the tracks.

I said a month or so ago, in jest, that I was regionally obligated to love Modest Mouse. I still love the band, but now it's more the way you love a good friend that you haven't seen in years.

Sorry you had to read through that. What can I give you as a reward...

Here's a track that you might not have heard. It originally appeared on the now out of print Interstate 8 EP in 1996. It reappeared later as a bonus track to the This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About vinyl release. As far as I know, that's it. Here it is in its original form:

Modest Mouse- Edit The Sad Parts

This one also appeared as a bonus track to the vinyl This Is A Long Drive...

Modest Mouse- A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy

That's all for today.

Dashboard

Story time...

Last August, Modest Mouse was scheduled to play a series of west coast shows, including one in my hometown. Those shows were cancelled, apparently because the band wanted to stay in the studio to finish the new album. Needless to say, I was upset, but I let it go because, well, I wanted a new Modest Mouse album. When they announced the December 19th release date, any ill will on my part had vanished. A few months later, a funny thing happened; Modest Mouse scheduled a series of November-January shows (in LA and NY for the most part). According to the band, these shows would mean that the album's release date would be pushed back to "early 2007." First they cancel shows to work on the album, then, two months later, they push back the album to play more shows? Ugh.

The first single from their new album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (still scheduled for "early 2007"), will be released officially on January 16th, but the good folks at Born by the River are bringing it to you now:

Modest Mouse - Dashboard

If you liked Good News..., then you will like this track. I am regionally obligated to love everything that Modest Mouse puts out, so you know I'm happy. Dashboard finds Isaac Brock at his most David Byrnesque, while still maintaining all of the same vocal and lyrical idiosyncrasies that made us fall in love with him in the first place. Dashboard provides a promising first look at one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2007.