REVIEW: Modest Mouse

Artist: Modest Mouse
Album: We Were All Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Plattenspieler Rating: 9.1/10

In a right and just musical World, Modest Mouse's 'Float On' would have been a Timberlake sized pop hit. All stomping chorus and uplifting angularity, it broke Isaac Brock and his band of indie godheads into the mainstream, so much so that this follow up to Good News For People Who Love Bad News went straight in at No. 1 on the US charts. Its a strange turn of events for a band whose career to that point was strewn with difficult, often beautiful music and crushing personal problems. All of a sudden, this is the biggest little band in the World and now they need an album to deliver on the promise so many have bought in to.

Leaked prior to release, the blogs were polarized in opinion of whether this album constituted a selling out, a loss of the occasional dissonant forays into art rock epicism that characterised their excellent albums previously or if this was the step forward into a fuller, even mature sound. Happily, while first listens may not quite capture the breathtaking scope of Brock's new confidence, the record reveals itself to be their finest work yet over time.

The addition to the band of Johnny Marr (Smiths jangling genius) has made a huge difference in the band's ability to flesh songs out fully, preventing the occasional lapses in quality control that peppered Good News.... 'Dashboard' is as catchily spiky as 'The View' but manages to sustain itself throughout with trumpets decorating the jabbed guitars. 'Spitting Venom' is an epic work of genius that may well be their 'Stairway' but the finest moments come in Brock's ability to use that voice in such differing phrasing patterns, creating multiple emotions often within the space of one line. While not quite at the level of versatility, comparisons could be made to Mike Patton's polypolar vocals but Brock manages to find the emotional spaces Patton never quite attains. 'Parting of the Sensory', 'Florida' and 'Missed The Boat can be filed next to their other masterwork songs and while the restless energy remains intact, this is now a band working on a whole different level.