Modest Mouse, Late On A Monday

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank » Modest Mouse

Website: http://www.modestmouse.com || Running Time: 62:28 || Label: Epic

When we last left Modest Mouse, their fifth and -- contrary to popular belief -- second major label album Good News For People Who Love Bad News charted 18th in the US and "Float On" became a huge mainstream hit. Would overexposure ruin another indie act? Their first major label album, The Moon And Antarctica, was only popular among college radio DJs and the Pitchfork folks. Even licensing "Gravity Rides Everything" to Nissan didn't kill the band's indie credibility, however, "Float On" took the additional step of not only being used by a car company(Ford) but in the process was involved in one of the most cringe-inducing television moments in recent memory when the an entire gaggle of American Idol singers covered the song.

So, surely their new album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank would find some way to cash in, right? I mean, when was the last time you heard The Flaming Lips¹ covered on American Idol? Isaac Brock and company, however, don't seem to care -- or are oblivious -- to what's going on around them; they just keep making great album after great album. Pity the mallternative who buys this record expecting more of "Float On".

Right away Brock spits out maniacal, guttural, throat-busting laughs among sharp, ringing guitars² on the opening track "March Into The Sea". A dark moment of madness, and a vertigo inducing departure from the ethereal, drifting opening combo of "The World At Large" and "Float On" from Good News³. "Dashboard", the second track, is the feel-good apex of the album; a steering-wheel slapping, windows-down driving anthem. After the first three tracks, however, the album is much darker than Good News.

"Florida" is a rollicking, menacing rant of a song; Brock's rapid-fire, crazy hobo delivery balanced by James Mercer's long, fading chanting of the title chorus. "Parting Of The Sensory" features one of the best delivered Brock laments yet: "This fits like clothes made of wasps! Oh fuck it, I guess I lost." Acute, almost stream of conscious lyrics are Brock trademarks, and reading the liner notes of We Were Dead... is almost as enjoyable as listening to it. Face it, you're not going to catch everything, even after many listens. On "Parting Of The Sensory", I thought the closing lyric was "Someday you will die and some how some thing or someone steals your coffin", but it was actually "...steals your carbon." I can't decide which sentiment is more morbid; sometimes it's best to simply marvel at the crazy shit Brock spits out.

This is the first must-buy album of the year(and judging by the billboard charts, I don't have to tell you that - in fact, this entire review was probably pointless). Success has not soured this formerly indie band; it hasn't subdued Brock's eccentricities; it hasn't turned the music over-moronically poppy.

Still, I can't wait to see a car commercial blaring "Dashboard" as cardboard cut-out hipsters drive off into a summer of adventure.

¹Honestly, I don't watch enough American Idol to know if this is actually true; for all I know Idol contestants have been murdering everything from "Bad Days" to "Are You A Hypnotist?" since 2002.

²I purposely didn't mention Johnny Marr, because if it wasn't for music blogs and press releases, you would never know he was playing.

³Technically, a short horn intro opens Good News. That's one thing I do miss on the new album: short little song fragments, usually peppered throughout a Modest Mouse record. That's being really nit picky, though.

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