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Thread: Boeing's Big Modest Mouse Review Topic

  1. #1
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    Default Boeing's Big Modest Mouse Review Topic

    -This is not just a review of a Modest Mouse albums, this is a review of all of their albums, and a retrospective of Modest Mouse's career up to this point in time (being November 2007). This will be an episodic review, I'll try and get them out all in the same week, but, with life who the hell knows what will happen.-





    I first heard Modest Mouse when I was in 7th grade, and my best friend came to school that day with a song that he claimed to write, called Doing the Cockroach. The lyrics sounded cool, and as I was always the skeptic (which got me in trouble a few times in my Catholic education), I did not believe him. After he told me that it was the awesome song by this band that his older brother was into, I went out later that week and bought the Moon and Antarctica, that just came out. It wasn't the album that the song was from, but it did not matter. I was hooked for life. I've followed the band for what is going to be 8 years soon, since I was turned on to them back in 2000.

    Modest Mouse can be considered one of the great success stories of modern indie rock. They came together in 1993, lead singer Issac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, bassist Eric Judy and (on and off, but now former) guitarist Dan Gallucci. They recorded the album known as Sad Sappy Sucker in 1994. but it was not released until 2001, a relic of Modest Mouse's lo-fi garage band production value past. At this point, that will be the only album I will not review, since I've lost my only copy of it and have yet to get the tracks from my friend. My opinion isn't that high of it anyway.



    This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About


    Released April 16, 1996
    Recorded 1996, Moon Studios, Olympia, Washington
    Genre Indie Rock
    Length 74:03 (CD)
    Label Up Records
    Producer Steve Wold


    Anyways, to review Long Drive. This album is their first real release, and is not over produced, in fact it is under produced. The sound quality and the rough feel of the album may detract some new listeners, but it just adds to its charm.In 1996, their first album was released, This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About. Catchy title, eh? Think about it for a little while, what does that name bring up inside you? To me, it makes me think of long car rides when I was a child going down to Wildwood, New jersey, and that inevitable waiting feeling that I had. I just wanted to get there, but I was so bored, I had nothing to do but to stare out the car window as the trees and grass gave way to marsh and sand.

    1. "Dramamine" – 5:42

    The opening track is brilliant, and is considered a classic Mouse song to this day. The song has a killer intro, with lyrics that imply tripping, well on Dramamine. I've never done it, but to people who have, they say it's a very clear comparison.

    Favorite line: We kiss on the mouth but still cough down our sleeves.

    2. "Breakthrough" – 4:06

    The song kicks up with a disheveled tongue twister, and then kicks off into another classic Mouse track. "Let it breakthrough, oh, let breakthrough" echoes throughout the song, it sounds like the ramblings of a madman, but it's just incredible. The song has great descriptive lyrics, it reminds me of late nights with my friends sitting by the window, just talking.

    Favorite line: Open the curtain and let in some sky...It's almost half past two AM, you can tell by the light, Open your window, and let in the atmosphere!

    3. "Custom Concern" – 4:28

    This next song is a queter Mouse song, it shows the softer lyrical side of Brock, who has already went through his "recollective" (Dramamine) phase, and his "rambling angry madman" phase on Breakthrough. Custom Concern has a great guitar and bass riffs throughout. The song seems like a dream, and the song describes how bland and dream like life can get, you do things and think things without realizing it. It reminds me of playing in the cold way too long, and becoming sort of distant from my awareness because of it. Another classic.

    Favorite Line:

    I get up just about noon
    My head sends a message for me
    To reach for my shoes then walk
    Got to go to work, got to go to work, got to have a job


    4. "Might" – 1:31

    This short track is the first weak point of the album. It sounds cool, but it doesn't really evoke any specific emotion.

    Favorite Line: none

    5. "Lounge" – 6:33

    This is one crazy chilled out song. It's a sort of pseudo-dance type song, and it's damn cool. It's basically describing some sort of night out. It starts off with a cool, upbeat sort of beat, with Brock's lyrics sounding distorted. This reminds me of some coked up party nights I had, because it isn't just all fun. The second part of the song just comes down, and it really reminds me of the "come down" you get, while you're still high, but you get weird and contemplative, and no longer energetic. The music just embodies it perfectly.

    Favorite line:

    He read the note in the black light
    He thought he read minds and was not right
    That line still made him seem charming
    His clothes were shining, shining


    6. "Beach Side Property" – 6:59

    Screaming Brock makes his appearance again on this track. This track is hard for me to decode, it's a solid track, but with crazy lyrics. It sounds like a criticism of development and stuff like that, but I'm not sure, and I'm not gonna claim it is.

    Favorite Line:

    "Wow!" said the broken Californian down
    On the beach that used to be by the beach
    Town hasn't moved but it's getting closer, losing ground
    Making better views and close relaxing sounds
    Ground sure don't like the way it's treated so now
    It's moving back to the sea
    Plan to hitch a ride with the river



    7. "She Ionizes & Atomizes" – 4:21


    Another slightly weak track, this song just doesn't click with me. I've read people interpreting it as a love song, but it's just too vague for me to make a call on. Good drumming though.

    Favorite Line: None

    8. "Head South" – 4:22

    A decent track, it seems to be critical of people who sell out, yet regret it later.

    Favorite line:
    Because here things go from grey to grey and back to grey again
    And they get green and go to grey and go back to grey again
    So he said



    9. "Dog Paddle" – 2:02

    A really disheveled, and crazy track. It's alright, meaning is kinda weird. Song is full of coughing sound effects.

    Favorite Line: none

    10. "Novocain Stain" – 3:42

    A solid track with damn good lyrics, they bring up the changes that happen in your life, and how development tends to ruin beautiful things. Cool beat to it as well.

    Favorite Line: -entire song-

    When I can work out how it was
    Then I'll tell you
    TV stained my memories, yeah
    I don't think it shows
    Remember through sounds
    Remember through smells
    Remember through colors
    Remember through towns
    With fear and fascination
    On what was here
    And what's replacing them now
    Interchange causes a mall
    And crowded chain restaurants
    More housing developments go up
    Named after the things they replace
    So welcome to Minnow Brook
    And welcome to Shady Space
    And it all seems a little abrupt
    No, I don't like this change of pace


    11. "Tundra/Desert" – 5:24

    This track starts out with a damn cool guitar intro, you have to listen to it to understand what I mean. This is a song you need to figure out for yourself, if you can. It's slow at first, and then goes ape-****.

    Favorite Line:

    "I don't feel and that feels fine" - That is a perfect example of Brock's crazy wordplay.

    12. "Ohio" – 6:01

    Decent track, great lyrics. A damn good example of early Modest Mouse, but not a classic.

    Favorite Line:
    Rows of lights to illuminate lines
    Why don't they turn them off and let us see night



    13. "Exit Does Not Exist" – 4:57


    This is just a weird song, with the weird breathing effects from "Dog Paddle"

    Favorite Line: None

    14. "Talking **** About a Pretty Sunset" – 5:50

    The album is going to only be good from here, barring the last track. This song is simply the best song on the album, the lyrics are beautiful, as is the music. It's just a damn good song, one of the best songs EVER written. I can identify with it so easily to. If you listen to one song from this album, it has to be this song.

    Favorite Line:

    Looking kind of anxious in your cross-armed stance
    Like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance
    And I claim I'm not excited with my life anymore
    So I blame this town, this job, these friends, the truth is it's myself
    And I'm trying to understand myself and pinpoint who I am
    When I finally get it figured out, I've changed the whole damn plan



    15. "Make Everyone Happy/Mechanical Birds" – 6:04

    Another beautiful song, the lyrics are absolutely wonderful. The song also kicks into this crazy guitar, that sounds like, well, mechanical birds.

    Favorite Line:

    I'm not sure who I am but I know who I've been



    16. "Space Travel Is Boring" – 1:53

    Short, but sweet. Brock rapid fires vocals.

    Favorite Line:
    I'm shot to the moon
    Been there a half an hour, I want to come home soon



    17. "Edit the Sad Parts" – 9:33

    Another great song. More of the same philosophical type of song that we've had since "Pretty Sunset".


    Favorite line:
    Sometimes all I really want to feel is love
    Sometimes I'm angry that I feel so angry


    18. "A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy" – 5:03


    Weird song, I usually avoid it.

    Favorite line: none



    OVERALL RATING OF This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About: 89%

    A classic album, but slows down in the middle (a lot of Mouse albums do this). A few songs can only be described as "sublime".


    NEXT ON THE DOCKET, THEIR MAGNUM OPUS, THE LONESOME CROWDED WEST

    Last edited by Dayman; November 12, 2007 at 06:24 AM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Boeing's Big Modest Mouse Review Topic

    Great reivew so ar Boeing, I agree completely with it. Long Drive is still my favorite MM album, but my favorite MM song is in your upcoming review...I will wait until you post that to divulge.

    (because people care about my fav song )

  3. #3

    Default Re: Boeing's Big Modest Mouse Review Topic

    Ah man I love Modest Mouse. I went to their concert in Indianapolis. It was great. My favorite songs are "Spitting Venom" and "Satin in A Coffin" I don't know why but I really like all of the songs that have the banjo in it.

    What was really cool during the concer was during half the show Jeremiah Green had a black bag over his head and was still drumming. I really like the dual drummer combination.

    Beyond the lyrics of Modest Mouse and their sound, the thing that really appeals to me about them are the album names. I just think they are the most creative and thought provoking names out their.

    My favorite song on this album is definetly Dramamine.
    Last edited by scottishranger; November 17, 2007 at 01:04 PM.

  4. #4
    Dayman's Avatar Romesick
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    Default Re: Boeing's Big Modest Mouse Review Topic


    The Lonesome Crowded West

    Released November 18, 1997
    Recorded Moon Studios, Olympia, Washington
    Genre Indie Rock
    Length 73:58
    Label Up Records
    Producer Calvin Johnson, Isaac Brock


    The Lonesome Crowded West is considered by many critics and fans to be MM's best album, their magnum opus. At one point I would agree, however that opinion has changed. Modest Mouse's sound evolves with each album. Whether intended or not I've come to see each one as a concept album, the lyrics and music weave a picture, not so much of a story, but of an emotion and a state of mind. This is a Long Drive is, aptly enough, an album for a long drive. It's lonely, chilled out, an album to soundtrack autumn nights with friends spent until 3 AM drinking and smoking. The Lonesome Crowded West is different. It's lonely - but not in a physical sense, in a more mental way. Someone who is emotionally distant. It's an angry album, a man thoughtful, brooding on how the world is changing and how he doesn't like it. Teeth Like God's Shoeshine is a preview of the roller coaster of emotions the man feels. It starts of screaming, furious, then mellows again becomes contemplative, and then switches back to anger. Heart Cooks Brain is decidedly mellower, but it tells a story about someone who's emotions and judgment conflict, his emotions are destroying his otherwise logical demeanor. Convenient Parking brings back Brock's screaming lyrics. This song is one of hatred against development and suburbanization, like Novocaine Stain on Long Drive. Lounge (Closing Time) breaks the conventional sound of the album so far, shifting towards, at first a "happy go lucky" sound but shifts to a more regretful and angry sound at the end. Jesus Christ Was an Only Child might pull in religious listeners but they'll back out at the line should of killed that little ****er before he hatched. Musically the album goes back to it's "sound" and the atmosphere is a bit odd. Doing the Cockroach is Brock's way of describing life. Our lives in the scale of the universe, are just as significant and meaningful as a cockroach's. The song is appropriately angry. This anger is peaking though, not here but in the next song, Cowboy Dan. This song sums up the entire first part of the album. Cowboy Dan is angry at the world for changing, angry at himself for not being able to do anything about it, and angry at God for letting it happen. But after this song the album shifts to a sentimental and sarcastic tone. Perhaps he's gone to accept the changes? Trailer Trash describes the life of poor people in the United States, the meaningless failing marriages, how children are used like pawns in bitter divorces. Out of Gas isn't about vehicles, it's about life, and warning others, you will come down soon too, you will come down too soon. Long Distance Drunk is about a Charles Bukowski story. :wub:: Luck is a little angry burst, quite obviously about having...:wub: luck. In Trucker's Atlas, it seems that we're now a rambler, traveling here and there and doing what needs to get done to move. Roaming is a theme of a few MM songs. Polar Opposites is about the monotony of life, but isn't angry. It's accepting. Bankrupt on Selling is the most contemplative song on the album, reflecting on human and our selfishness and greed. The last song on the album, Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice On Ice, Alright starts out as a man who is killed by the mafia, not by concrete boots, but by Styrofoam boots. Walking like Christ, but upside down. Then it shifts to heaven, but he as an atheist is shoved in the back to polish halos and the like. But it ends up that even in heaven god doesn't do anything either. Musically it's an amazing finish to an album.



    Overall rating: 94%
    My picks:
    Teeth Like God's Shoeshine, Jesus Christ Was an Only Child, Doing the Cockroach, Trailer Trash, Polar Opposites, Bankrupt on Selling, Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice On Ice, Alright

    One of the best albums I've ever listened too, consistently great. Evokes emotions up and down and all over, and finishes off on a positive note, even for all the anger in the beginning.
    Last edited by Dayman; April 10, 2008 at 04:34 PM.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Boeing's Big Modest Mouse Review Topic

    Couldn't agree more.

    Here's the man with teeth like God's shoeshine
    He sparkles shimmers shines
    let's all have another Orange Julius
    This syrup standing in lines
    The malls are the soon to be ghost towns
    so long, farewell, good-bye

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