Fuck Yeah Modest Mouse

guitarpornography:

Reviews on Demand #10: Modest Mouse’s “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank” (Recommended by boringben)

It’s as if Black Frances and Rivers Cuomo got together one day and decided they really liked the music of Hank Williams and set out to recreate it. If this prospect intrigues you and for some reason you’ve managed to avoid the band, it is time to give Modest Mouse a listen. I cannot deny the infectious energy of Modest Mouse’s music, that certain type of manic energy that recalls the muscle memory of when I have just the right amount of caffeine in me and I’m all smiles and numbing limbs. This is the music for those assholes we all hate, the so-called “happy people,” who enjoy life and even when they have something bad happen to them they manage to keep upbeat. There are many reasons this comes across so clearly on We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, though I’d always put Isaac Brock’s voice at the top of it. Brock’s voice is quite unique, capable of these Louis Armstrong-esque bellows, as if he just has to tell you something before he forgets. His rapid up and down pitch shifts are quite a thing to hear, adding a layer of not exasperation, but frenzy to what he is trying to say. Let me point to the song “Florida” here: “Although we often wondered/It was no thing of wonder/The shit that flew from our minds/Grass stains and fresh fruit/Reminds our shoes of horse glue/On this ridiculous climb/With great tunnel vision/We built ourselves a mission/To ride out motives decide/Oh, with vague description/Of what we have been missing/So why would anyone try?” The imagery of the lyrics is off-beat, almost tongue-in-cheek in the way it is said made full by Brock inflecting all the funniest syllables. His sense of pacing is fantastic, capable of giving off these fantastic little sing-along moments as you just want to become part of what he is singing. This is all furthered by the atmosphere of the music, which is very carnivalesque. I know there was a definite intention to replicate the energy and spirit of sea shanties (the title, c’mon!), so the instrumentation does a lot to give a very rustic sense to itself. The most prominent of these off-beat instruments is the violin, which adds a lot of fiddling to the mix. While certainly folksy you get the feeling it is all in fun and never shuffles its way into anachronism. Honestly, I would have liked to have seen more of this type of thing on the record, especially banjo or harmonica, but, alas! The music only starts to falter when you start to take apart the more standard instrumentation. While certainly not majorly flawed, I get the distinct feeling that all the guitar parts come from a single piece of compositional practice rather than being segmented into their individual units to begin with. The tone of each song is very similar, that jangly buzzsaw approach that fills in quite a bit as the song picks up intensity. It seems to subvert the main melodic instrument as the source of melody, making you depend on Brock’s voice to get a better sense of what the song is trying to convey. I also feel as if the rhythm section might be a little too busy at times, trying a little too hard to up the energy of a given song. The drums tend to wash out at times, forcing you to really listen for the way the beats separate if you want to get into them, which hurts the otherwise danceable music. However, these complaints are shockingly nitpicky and ones I wouldn’t bring up without a little reluctance. As I’ve been sitting writing this review, I realize just how much I liked this record and how happy I was to talk about all the things I liked about it, much the same way I felt when I was writing my 100 favorite albums list. Take this as my big glowing recommendation: We Were Dead Before the Ship Ever Sank will make you feel good in all the right ways.

Is It Guitar Pornography?: Not really. The guitar is a little more abstract and powerful than on most indie rock records, but it all just has a very samey feeling to it from song to song that makes it difficult to really trace the underlying skill to it or to give a recommendation by tonal control.

Who I’d Recommend It To: People in need of a pick me up, a smile or a jaunty tune to get them through the day. Fans of sing-alongs and nodding their heads back and forth. Fans of sea shanties and bluegrass. People who need frequent changes to keep their attention. Fans of party music. People who giggle when other people curse.

An Arbitrary Rating: 9/10

Favorite Track: Parting of the Sensory