- Artists:
- Modest Mouse »
- Label:
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A Beckettian character with a mile-wide misanthropic streak, I always thought of Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock as the kind of guy who gets kicks out of imagining his own funeral. Brock possesses such a powerfully self-defeating intellect it’s a wonder he ever opens his mouth to speak at all, except, one suspects, for an overriding fear that one day the earth will come and swallow him up and leave nobody left to mourn his untimely demise.
Which might go some of the way to explaining the length of his band’s fifth album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Clocking in at a formidable 62 minutes, and feeling much longer than that, it quickly becomes clear that Isaac’s got lots to say. Christ, it’s longer than a Mike Diver album review. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
Because while a quick glance at some of the song titles will tell you Brock is still digging himself the same metaphysical holes (‘March Into The Sea’, ‘Fly Trapped In A Jar’), musically We Were Dead… is a significant development for Modest Mouse, not least thanks to the addition of a certain ex-Smiths guitarist to their already-swollen ranks.
It’s difficult to gauge exactly the extent of Johnny Marr’s contribution to the album, although he certainly did have an input, and the sprightly funk guitar-lines on lead single ‘Dashboard’ would seem to back that up. That first release gives a fair indication of the album’s ambivalent courting of mainstream attention (it went in at #1 in the US) – instrumentally it’s all slick strings and straight-up dancefloor rhythms, but it’s also punctuated by an unprecedented, hectoring vocal courtesy of Brock. Worse, he seems to have decided it rather suits him, and proceeds to bludgeon the listener with a series of haranguing performances which sound like the addled rantings of a tramp.
Nonetheless, a radio-friendly sheen is apparent in ‘Florida’’s strident chorus and ‘Missed The Boat’’s bittersweet lament, the latter buoyed by a swoonsome backing vocal courtesy of the evergreen James Mercer. ‘Parting Of The Sensory’ is the album’s centrepiece and Brock’s expletive-ridden attempt at nailing his thematic colours to the mast, as it were, spitting existential lines like “this fits like clothes made out of wasps!” and “someday you will die and something’s gonna steal your carbon” over a raging sea monster of a jig. Nice.
Futility and keenly-felt contradiction are Brock’s stock-in-trade, and his bemusement at blind human endeavour resurfaces throughout: “Our ideas held no water but we used ‘em like a dam”; “It didn’t seem we’d lived enough to even get to die”… Honestly, I could go on.
But I won’t. And maybe the band shouldn’t have, either. The narrator in ‘Little Motel’’s wish that a loved one would miss him if he “just didn’t exist” may be an unconvincing attempt to reconcile the album’s suffocating themes with a semantic sleight-of-hand, but putting it at the end of the album would at least have given the record a satisfying narrative arc; instead, the band opts to bolt on an exhausting extra 20-ish minutes of superfluous material. ‘Spitting Venom’ is a particular own-goal; eight-and-a-half minutes of bombast stacked onto a ludicrously slim premise.
In fairness, We Were Dead... excites almost as much as it frustrates; the problem lying not so much in its commercial aspirations per se as an occasional inability to integrate them into a satisfying whole. That, and there’s too much shouting. And it’s way too long. And so is this review.
Apologies to Mr Diver.
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Share on Facebookthat's a lovely review.
i shall be saving my money for other records this month.
again
A modest mouse album that's too long. A bit of editing and control would have made this a brilliant record.
Florida is amazing!
Too-long albums
seems to be something of a trademark of theirs. I've never been one for listening to them all the way through, but just listening to bits and pieces has kept me quite a big fan. I'll get this soon.
It seems to me
that we should be thankful for Isaac Brock; worship everything he gives to us and never EVER wish he gave us less. They haven't given us enough at is.
Bang on
Could'nt have said it better myself, or if I could be bothered to, which I can't.
i think Good News
was exactly the right length.. how long was it? it did take me about two years to get into though.. roll on, 2009!
Too true
There are many other bands who can give us concise indie-pop songs on a particular focus (if you like that go buy the new Rakes album, which is also ace).
When I listen to Modest Mouse I expect an extended mesh of thoughts, ideas and influences, seemingly a mess but somehow managing to make sense and that's what this is.
Great album, go out and buy it.
excites almost as much as it frustrates
Perfect summation of Modest Mouse. For every fantastic song, there's one that's totally exasperating. It's the way they operate. Thank god, because at this point in their career they could easily hire the talent to Protool themselves into studio-perfect boring crap.
Isn't...
'March into the Sea' the name of a Pelican song?
Not that you'd get them mixed up...
Good review.
I'd give it a 9 though. Not every song is perfect, but as a whole it is astounding.
And I don't think the album is too long. Invisible might just be the best track, although Dashboard and Fly Trapped In A Jar run it close...
I think
Spitting Venom is brilliant and one of the few tracks of that length i enjoy threw out. I love the album to bits though ur right.... Isaac clocked on to the fact the fans perferd the shouty songs but that was only the case when they where weged around gentle melodic songs. If they cut out 'Education' and maybe shortend 'Fire It Up' it would of been perfect.
but..
..spitting venom is the best song on there?
Wow...
...I really can't understand the criticism of this album, the shouted vocals make it so much more exciting for me, original vocalists are a dying breed at the moment. And as for cutting 'Dashboard', Jesus, listen to the mixing in the vocal entrance, it's pure genius. I posted my own review of this and I guess I'm just going to have to agree to disagree! Wonderfully written review though, mine looks lacklustre in comparison, oh well.
Any band
who get Marr to make decent music (post Smiths) deserve credit. I like this lp. it follows on from the last in lovely style, if only years too late (seems like that!). I hope they carry it on! I believe in Brock!
You're right
Spitting venon is the best track, especially the part where it goes from full-on mental to subdued halfway through.
This album is great.
Yeah.
another week
another album review on DiS that I totally disagree with. "Too much shouting". Have you even heard any of their other albums?? That's like berating Pelican for having too much riffing.
i think i'll take a chance
despite most reviews ive read i got a feeling ill like this one
Do not agree atall
which is becoming a regular occurance on thsi site.
ignore the bloody record label and listen to the album.
its brilliant, just as good as their previous in my opinion.
definetly not too long either, and the shouting is the best bit as his voice is edgya nd emotional.
when someone who is reviewing modest mouse says their too much shouting, then he really doesn;t get what they are about.
on a first listen
I thought it was quite long, but now 10 listens in I want it to be longer! That's part of their genius I think. And in my opinion it's their best record to date. Gets a 9/10 from me - it's excellent.
the vocals
are pure beefheart. And the stuff about it being overlong is a load of garbage.
new fan's point of view
i'm a modest mouse newbie. this is not because of the whole johnny marr thing (not that big a smiths fan), but rather due to a rather miserable experience i once had seeing them in london about 7 years ago (because of the girl i was with not the band).
now all grown up and over that, lol, i thought i'd check out the new album and i'm glad i did. obviously i have nothing to compare it to, but it's easily the best album i've heard all year.
it took a little while but gradually i found myself smiling at the way a particular line was delivered and the album began to get under my skin, in the same way that pavement always did for me. dashboard is instant and perfectly arranged for maximum punch with the way instruments/vocals are introduced/withdrawn. parting of the sensory is indeed the album's centrepiece and the best song deus never wrote. the mid-section (after we've got everything) could be trimmed but (unlike modest mouse) we can't have everything :-)
off to check out the back catalogue.... where's the best place to start guys?
good news
is a great album, especially the track bukowski!!
No Offense to about 25% of you,
But almost everyone on here should just forget about modest mouse.. you guys dont know what you talking about,.. isaac brock is amazing and everything he does is amazing but we were dead and good news both dont even compare one single bit to the other 8 albums.. yeah i bet you guys didnt know they have had 10 albums.. i bet almost none of you know who ugly casanova is either.. proving you shouldnt be making theses comments about the band or new album cuz youre not real fans. modest mouse is getiing trendy so now there are all theses fans all theses people who know of what 3 or 4 albums.. seriously uggh sorry i feel very strongly about mm . but im sure their are some people on here who are the same.. im just disappointed about what isaac is doing.. hes makibng them radio friendly.. fuckin a seriouly have you guys seen the verizon commercial? oh and by the way your stupid if you say this =albums too long .. the length of mms song are what makes it...
i apologiza and id love replies if you have any thoughts
why
should an opinion have to be in context to previous releases and any band's back catalogue ? "yeah i bet you guys didnt know they have had 10 albums.. " who gives a fuck ? the best reviews are ignorant of what a band did or didn't previously sound like. copies you be sent to reviewers in blank cases with no markings imo - then you might get a more honest review.
They dont have 10 albums
they have 5 albums
1 compilation of b-sides
and like 4 or 5 eps
Just pointing it out Sarah =D
good album
but yes, too long. Easily could have done without Education, Steam Engenius, We've Got Everything and Invisible just for starters. But Parting of the Sensory is one of the best things I've heard all year.
The songs you mentioned
above are some of the BEST ones, are you insane??
Well, it's been a while, and you know... it's just been given #6 of albums in 2007.
Maybe people warmed up to its length, and the fact that there's not a bad song on it. Abosolute brilliance.
Why
do people join JUST to post things like that?
A panic-ridden outburst fanned by the fear caused by other people knowing about a band she loves, which she wasn't expecting because none of her close friends know who they are.
Shallow, and easier to read than a book.
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