Jesus, I don't really associate Modest Mouse with ~ feelings ~ but the line in "Lace Your Shoes" about "trying to be better so you can do the same" hit me really hard. Very happy with this so far.
It's definitely more cohesive than Strangers For Ourselves, although I still don't really understand the lukewarm reception to that record. There's a few here I'm not entirely sold on -- mostly "Walking and Running" and "Never Fuck a Spider on the Fly" -- but otherwise, I thought this was really cohesive and enjoyable. Expecting it to be divisive because it's definitely a "newer" sounding MM record, but I also expected something a LOT poppier. I mean, this is poppy for them, but it's not like top 40 considering Jacknife Lee's involvement lol. Very solid stuff, excited to revisit it tomorrow. Onto Tyler.
this is awesome, i don't know why a part of me doubted that this album would be any good, but it's amazing! after the later two singles, i was expecting way less guitar. there's some really big emotional moments on here. early favorites are We're Lucky, Japanese Trees, and Back To The Middle
Record is very cool. Not what I was expecting given the direction of the singles. On initial listens I prefer this to STO (which i liked). Lots of good Good News/WWD stuff happening in places. Looking forward to diving in more this weekend. Faves so far: We're Lucky, Wooden Soldiers (that ending!), Leave A Light On, Back To The Middle.
I love the production on this. The opener, We Are Between, Wooden Soldiers, and Lace Your Shoes are my favourites
wife just asked me why I keep walking around singing "fuck your acid trip I wanna go home." happy modest mouse friday!
This is SO much better than I was expecting based on the singles. Haven’t been this surprised by an album in awhile!
I feel like I'm in a bizarro world where this should be the weird album that everyone else would hate and I would love, but it seems like everyone else is having a great time with it and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. There are a few classic Modest Mouse elements (especially in the vocal tracking/arrangements and some of the lyrics), but so much of it is so different in approach. I'm not really hearing the Moon & Antarctica comparisons, and only minor similarities to We Were Dead. Like, "We Are Between" is a Modest Mouse song, but the bulk of the melodies feel so unlike Isaac's writing style. After two listens, I like the singles a lot more than the rest of the songs. I don't dislike the album as a whole, but I also don't think that I'd be eager to give it a third spin if it wasn't a Modest Mouse record. It's creative and sounds fine, but it feels like it doesn't have the magic (or spirit or essence or whatever you want to call it) that's present in the rest of their records and makes the band special. Big Modest Mouse fans, please tell me what I might be missing. I really want my first impression to be wrong and ultimately love this album (like I know I will).