"Dashboard" Modest Mouse

So I guess the old Stephen King-ism (cum Homer-ism), "All work and no play makes Harry something something" holds true this week, as I've almost completely missed the boat on this one. Working too much will occasionally do that to you. Anyway, a day or so late, but hey, better late than never, right? I think this will be an interesting one, to say the least. Let me lay it out for you. As I mentioned in my recent post on "Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice on Ice, Alright" I never really listened to "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" so this track is completely new to me. I heard the singles from the last album, but I haven't heard anything from this new iteration of the band, now with Johnny Marr. I think I've got an interesting perspective on this one, considering my previous (and continuing) love for the old Modest Mouse, and the excitement and expectation I have for this new stuff. That's why I thought it would be both fun and interesting to do a patented One Listen Review on this track, after having been listening to my collection of old Modest Mouse for the past hour or so. Now that my listening muscles are primed for the rock, let's get it goin'!

The song starts with some very clean indie guitar work and Brock's voice sounds much more polished than his older stuff (for good reason, I'd say). The song is very catchy, complete with horns and the pounding pounding bass drum marking the beat like the large, white heart of the band. The chorus is fun and upbeat, hell the whole song is pretty upbeat. It's like the band actually realized the sun does shine and that the creaky, damp darkness that pervaded their earlier releases isn't how the world has to be. And my god, a fucking break down to end all breakdowns. If you weren't already aware, here at ThaBombShelter, we're suckers for a good breakdown, and Modest Mouse is quite capable of one, clearly. It's got shades of "Hot Fuss" era Killers and a splash of the more fun Franz Ferdinand tracks, but rather than rehashing singles from two years ago, the Mouse boys have put their Sharpie mark on the style. By the last minute of the track it's become clear that the polish on Isaac's voice is merely gold colored paint on the corroded, distinct, vocals that we all know and love. The growl is still there, and no matter how much gloss you toss on it, it'll never go away, and that makes me a very happy Modest Mouse fan.

It's interesting that one listen of one track could potentially reverse three years of ambivalence I've had for a band of modern indie forbears. I still don't know if I'll ever get into their last album, but if this track is any indication, I'm now very excited about "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank."

Modest Mouse Official Site
Modest Mouse on MySpace
Modest Mouse on Wikipedia

"Dashboard" Modest Mouse

Photo courtesy of this guy, via the Modest Mouse MySpace page.