Few bands have as distinctive a package as Modest Mouse. Singer Isaac Brock’s barking vocals and equally violent stage antics. The parade of instruments and band members. The idiosyncratic album titles and Virginia Woolf-inspired band name, cleverly cryptic lyrics and minimalist album covers. Every detail is a carefully crafted piece of a brand image that many corporations would admire for its consistency. Having finally achieved commercial success with its identity intact, you would think the one rule for the band would be simply: don’t fuck with anything.
But not Modest Mouse. On the heels of 2004’s biggest song and a platinum record, Modest Mouse took a short break and returned with a new lineup for We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank featuring one of the world’s most renowned free agent guitarists. Johnny Marr, formerly of the Smiths, is now a full-fledged band member and has shared in some of Brock’s songwriting duties. So how does the new Modest Marr (as the blogs have taken to calling them) actually sound?
Well, a lot like the old Modest Mouse, with Johnny Marr. That isn’t to say that Marr’s contributions don’t mesh. On “Invisible” and “We’ve Got Everything” Marr’s echoing guitars compliment the Modest Mouse sound quite well. The band has always had an ethereal quality to their production (especially on the epic Moon and Antartica) and in that context the bizarre band mash-up actually makes some sense, as Marr’s sound gracefully blends into that of the band.
Aside from the famous new band-member, lead single “Dashboard” is the first thing to jump out from the record, springing up from the record and onto your car stereo. Like “Float On” hopped up on pep pills the song features bouncing beats and lyrics that don’t mean much but sound good when shouted. It also thankfully lends itself to repeat plays, which you’ll make a point to remember when you hear it on MTV for the hundredth time next week. (Unless of course the pop music landscape has changed since 2004, though I’m not quite sure if it has, does MTV still play music videos?)
The album is full of little treats along the way, like James Mercer’s backing vocals on “Florida” or Brock showcasing his many “singing” styles on “Spitting Venom,” from rhythmic spoken word to falsetto croon to howl. “Fire It Up” is slightly more anthematic than Modest Mouse are known to be, but it suits them well here.
If the album has a key flaw it would have to be its length, and as the track numbers rack up into the low teens similar sounding sounds tend to blur together. But long albums with a cohesive feel are a Modest Mouse trademark, and if you enjoy their sound then getting lost in a Brockian soundscape is half the fun. We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is through and through a Modest Mouse album, and like the rest of their catalogue, makes for excellent listening on a long ride with nothing to think about. |