Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Published January 24, 2005
You tell me what you want,
and I'll tell you what you get,
you get away from me,
you get away from me.
("Ocean Breathes Salty")
With the media hype quietly fading on Issaquah, Washington's Modest Mouse, it seemed like the right time to give the band's latest and most well-received release a listen.
It's a testament to the increasingly insular nature of the recording industry that a band like Modest Mouse has been around since 1992 and have barely scored a blip on the radar. I know they are old news to their hardcore fan base, but had I been exposed to them earlier, I would have certainly not been shocked when they scored a hit with the buoyant "Float On," the first single off Good News For People Who Love Bad News.
Throw in obnoxiously heavy rotation on college radio, and the selling out in all its commercial grandiosity, it really is no wonder that indie rockers cried like girly girls when another cult fave took the path most trampled.
But so what? The band has to eat and pay their phone bill right? With the second single, "Ocean Breathes Salty," another atypical Modest Mouse confection — more often they weep, pee vinegar and gnash their teeth — the band sealed their fate by having the nerve to score yet another hit. How dare they make music AND be successful?
Modest Mouse formed in 1992 when singer/songwriter/guitarist Isaac Brock met bassist Eric Judy and began practicing in Brock's shed. Brock, a non-front man's front-man, is oddly chatty and sometimes cringingly open about his life and exploits, especially for a guy who "hates" doing interviews. Perhaps it is this boiling animosity for answering life's insipid little questions that fuels Brock's quirky and sometimes acerbic perspective. When blended with Modest Mouse's artfully crafted songs, the alchemy is eerily enchanting.
How often can you put in a CD and walk away for almost an hour and never feel the need to throw a brick at your player because it's spewing a crapper in between the keepers? This is a one of those CDs.
Dawn Olsen is a veteran blogger who proudly supports the guy who publishes this awesome site. She's also an avid reader of high quality tabloid fare, enjoys gardening and scatological skywriting.
- Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
- Published: January 24, 2005
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- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Alternative Rock
- Writer: Dawn Olsen
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Comments on this articleComments
Thanks Eric, I strive to be malodorous.
Glad to see someone not ripping on the band for - gasp - having hit songs. The song formula has changed little, it's just the times that have caught up with them and now people can become aware of this odd, but wonderful little band. What made their success more palatable is that the band themselves weren't everywhere - the song might have been a hit, but they were wise to keep their names and faces out of the publicity machine, unlike almost every other "big" musical act. It gets very, very tiring to not be able to escape seeing someone's face everywhere and hear/read about their every little move at your every turn. It just proves that, just like Johnny Carson succeeding in disappearing from public view, if someone doesn't want the exposure, they don't have to get it. All these "stars" complaining about their lack of privacy might want to consider asking their managers to turn the publicity machine off. Notice that they rarely do.
very good points Tom: there is an understandable fear that if they don't "git while the gittin's good" it won't get got at all, which leads to all you say.
I, for one, am extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to discover them (no matter how late in their career). I am entranced by the lyrics and find the overall tone and sound pleasing on many levels.
I hope to find time to review The Moon and Antartica soon. It's also really excellent. Thanks Tom for taking the time to comment. I write so rarely anymore and I worked hard on this review - it's nice that someone other than Eric took the time to read it.
ok dawn, i've been pushed over the edge. i've had this particular cd in my hands on several occasions but have always put it back in the bin (it probably lost out to a handful of skronky jazz cds)
so i'm gonna pull the trigger on this one the next time i'm at a store.
nice review.
I have to admit that though Dawn and I have listened to this together a couple of times and I was less impressed than she, having read the review I am more inclined to consider it favorably: that's a good review
Mark,
Excellent!! Please let me know what you think about it, it took a couple of listens to really appreciate the nuances, but once it stuck, it really stuck.
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pungent and evocative, thanks DMDO