Modest Mouse Band • Page 6

idk it really makes me bored. its the only mm album i can't sit through. shit my ranking looks like ass now

 

I love the vibe Fruit that ate itself has. Very loose and Jammy with the interludes but moments of the lcw edginess. Such a summer album for me, especially with the song.

 

this is the closest a band has ever came to being modest mouse again

 

yall might like this

 

The Lonesome Crowded West is far and away my favorite album, the song structures are almost "epic" in the classical sense in the way there's a very real journey that's happening through the music, if not always in the narrative. They sprawl, but they go somewhere (which was one of the things I both loved and hated about Long Drive -- it doesn't always get to where it's going, at least not before I've maybe lost my way a bit). And it's strange, because those same epics contain songs that maybe should be separate songs but work so much better together? At the same time, I can't imagine fusing this punk spirit and scrappiness with actual beauty the way this particular album does. Isaac also had this incredible sense of songcraft that worked so well with their minimalist power trio set up. Most of the time when there's only one guitar, the guitar player seems to want to fill up as much space as possible to pick up the slack, whether through big sounding chords or some impressive math, but goddamn. LCW is RIFF CITY. Which lends itself well to a sort of spaciousness that I feel like Long Drive attempted through sprawling length, but LCW does better through reservation (prime example: Cowboy Dan).

all this (the short version of what it could've been) is to say that Moon and Antarctica is probably the "better" album. It's just...cohesive in a way that's actually breath taking. The production of that album is perfect -- I'm not sure I gave a shit about production that wasn't aggressively bad before this album. I probably did, but this album felt like a turning point for me in actually paying attention to that kind of stuff, because I don't think there's an album that has the whole vibe better summed up in the tag team of the title and the production. This was the first time that sense of space actually worked in a larger, more widescreen way, every song back to back, and not just from a songwriting perspective. I could understand why Moon isn't for some people because it's detached and cold and aggressively personal and a touch agoraphobic in a way that the previous albums (and maybe none of their other albums, either) just weren't. Moon was a Modest Mouse that pretty much grabbed at everything they wanted from making music and didn't seem to give a shit if anyone else was on board. I find that pretty admirable, and I love that album a lot.

tl;dr: Lonesome Crowded West is my favorite Mouse since they tightened up everything I liked about their previous output, but Moon is probably their "best" album in terms of an artistic statement.

 

Lonesome Crowded West = Moon & Antarctica
Good News
Building Nothing
We Were Dead
Strangers
Long Drive

Really hope they release a new album this year as promised. Last year was so disappointing because 2 of my favorite bands released subpar albums. Strangers & Painting of A Panic Attack.

 

I didn't become a MM fan until Good News came out and then I went back to Moon & Antarctica and Lonesome Crowded West after that. I personally enjoy We Were Dead the most, and I'm definitely probably in the minority in saying that. My rankings would go:

We Were Dead
Good News
Moon
Strangers (although I think Strangers is pretty underrated)
Lonesome Crowded West
Long Drive

 

Good News was also my first, and I didn't get it at the time but listening now and knowing where it falls in the discog, it's really a breath of fresh air after the dourness of Moon and Antarctica also it's got good ass songs

 

"I'm trying to drink away the part of the day that I cannot sleep away" is a devastating line. Very relatable and sad for me. Glad I'm not in that place anymore

 

isaac might be my favorite guitarist

 

smh at people ranking Long Drive last

 

Long Drive has my favorite Modest Mouse song on it, so it'll always have that going for it

 

I was really hoping for a new MM album sooner than this considering Isaac had said they would put out one as soon as "legally" possible. In a couple weeks it will be 2 years since Strangers came out. I mean, obviously us MM fans are used to waiting, but when he said that I guess I just got my hopes up we would see one within a year or so.

 

Feel like faster might be better for them too (at this particular moment in their career). From a lot of interviews, it seems like Isaac was really overthinking stuff, and his band mates occasionally seemed like they were like "Isaac wtf these are good songs relax"

 

they are better when frenetic and careless. just put it out

 

Been listening to the band a lot lately. Really want to find a way to see them again this summer even if I have to drive a bit.

 

Will back careless; the sprawling moments still rock. Would argue they were similarly at their best when balancing careless (ie doing what they want) with careful (meticulous craft), shout out Moon and Antarctica

 

Finally getting around to going through the first three albums...

 

enjoy! come back with your thoughts. Lonesome Crowded West is special, as is Moon, and Long Drive has my favorite Modest Mouse song on it

 

Guess I'll be in the minority here: I'm not a fan of TLCW. I thought the album as well as the individual songs just dragged on and on and on. Long Drive has a similar same problem, really, but I enjoyed the songwriting more on that album. Definitely don't hate either or anything, but I'm pretty underwhelmed after one listen of each. I really prefer the more polished sound of the last few albums. Haven't gotten to Moon yet.

 

:( that's a bummer but at least you like some of their stuff! I'd give those two more listens though. Long Drive at least was so much to take in at once that it took me a while.

 

That's true, it's definitely a lot. I dug the vibe at first, I just felt like I wanted it to go somewhere that it didn't really. That's probably a terrible description of what I mean but I dunno haha.

 

nah i get exactly what you mean because that was my exact feel at first, which is what leads me to believe you might like it more over time.

 

LCW is not an album one listens to once, and loves/understands it. It took me a good 10 listens because it's so lyrically dense to fully appreciate. It's imo their best record.

 

West, Moon and Drive are all perfect records.