- Artist
- Modest Mouse
- Label
- Epic
- Release date
- 2nd April 2007
- Genre
- Indie
Cool US indie heroes gain an ex-Smith on fascinating funk-pop voyage
While kindred indie rockers The Shins, The Flaming Lips and Arcade Fire have garnered rapid mainstream acclaim, Washington state six-piece Modest Mouse have needed to be more patient. The fundamental avant-garde cred at the heart of leader Isaac Brock's sound, however, finally struck a chord with 2004's platinum-selling Good News For People Who Love Bad News and the glorious single Float On hitting number one in the US rock chart.
With this latest collection, the UK should succumb to their numerous charms. There's no reason why not: this is a band with the melodies to rival The Shins, a multi-faceted sound to equal the Lips and in Brock's hysterical, yelping vocals, an idiosyncratic voice that fronts up to Win Butler. What's more, MM have an ace up their sleeve: Johnny Marr is now a fully-fledged band member.
The album explodes on opener March Into The Sea - a howling sea shanty with sweet fiddles and glockenspiels swimming against huge rhythmic undulations and crunching riffs - before the infectious Talking Heads-y funk-pop side of MM reveals itself on Dashboard. This is where Marr's influence comes to the fore. Forget his Smiths-jangle past: Marr brings a funky, deftness of touch as pleasing counterpart to MM's startlingly powerful, pounding rhythm section.
We Were Dead... is dripping with melody throughout its 14 tracks but MM swathe them in an ugly-beautiful filth of cosmic guitar pedal pyrotechnics and Pixies-esque discordant elements, while Brock howls and wails throughout. It's a heady concoction that shifts the tunes away from too pretty, best seen on the astounding Steam Engenius and Fly Trapped In A Jar - think Frank Black replacing John Lydon in Metal Box-era PIL.
After finally navigating their way into a wider US audience, this fascinating voyage of an album should see MM finally cruise into British hearts.
Also try: Pixies: Surfer Rosa My Morning Jacket: Z Arcade Fire: Funeral Talking Heads: Remain In Light
