Modest Mouse

[Aaron]

What do y'all think of Modest Mouse?  I just picked up their latest album, Good News For People Who Like Bad News, and I think it's one of the better albums I've listened to in the past few years.  I had heard some of their previous stuff, but never really got into them til now.  It was 9 dollars well spent at Sam Goody

[DvChWi]

I just received The Moon & Antarctica, which I am currently digesting.  I had heard some of their songs at work, and they were enough to make me want to buy M&A, but somehow the whole album doesn't quite seem to live up to some of the individual songs, but this impression may change upon further listens.

[bloop]

M&A just needs time to grow on you, I think. Your comments seem to apply better to "Good News..." in my book, but I gotta listen to it at least a few more times to say.

[xsuchgreatHEIGHTS]

I really like Modest Mouse.
I've been listening to their latest a lot lately.

[dgp11776]

I'm still trying to get a feel for this one.  My initial take (after 3-4 listens) is that I don't like it enough to buy it.  It's not bad, but nothing really connected with me so far.  I'm not a big fan of the language on it, either.  

[Jrodder]

I haven't heard their whole album yet, but I like what I've heard. "Float On" reminds me of a Sublime song, can't remember which one.

[murlough23]

I've listened to this a few times, and I'm incredibly amused by the cartoonish nature of the music and vocals. These guys are pretty creative and you can tell they don't take themselves too seriously.

I dislike the language in a few of the songs, but that's minor since I can tell they're going for more of a goofy/comedic feel.

My favorite songs are probably front-loaded at the beginning (I love how "The World at Large" and "Float On" are like the exact same chords, just with one song sped up a bit), but the album definitely holds my attention all the way through.

I have to say that "Dance Hall" is one of the more annoying things I've heard so far this year, though. Yowza!

NP: "Bukowski", Modest Mouse

[bloop]

I haven't heard their whole album yet, but I like what I've heard. "Float On" reminds me of a Sublime song, can't remember which one.

Sublime was a short-lived band.  It shouldn't be that hard to figure it out.

My big problem with the album is that it's front-loaded as well.  Good News... is really one of their weaker efforts.

[murlough23]

Sublime was a short-lived band.  It shouldn't be that hard to figure it out.

"What I Got". You had to remind me. I had that song blasted in my ear endlessly during my sophomore year of college. That, and "Scooby Snacks" by the Fun Lovin' Criminals. ENOUGH ALREADY. (OK, the FLC song was actually kinda fun at first.)

Those whacked-out vocals that Modest Mouse uses sure have a way of getting stuck in my head. I'm gonna be walking around all day now maniacally blurting out, "Well, that is that and this is this!!!" Descriptive, aren't they?

[bloop]

Modest Mouse is pretty distinct from Sublime though, don't you think?  The resemblances are surface-level at best.

(I don't personally hate Sublime.  "Santeria" was a good single.)

[murlough23]

Modest Mouse is pretty distinct from Sublime though, don't you think?  The resemblances are surface-level at best.

I would have never thought to compare the two. The resemblance is definitely a tangential one.

[Jrodder]

I would have never thought to compare the two. The resemblance is definitely a tangential one.

Yeah, it's just the verses of "Float On" that brought Sublime to mind.

[Josh]

Wow, what a surprising, fun, quirky album.

Finally got around to hearing this one, and I enjoy it quite a bit. There are moments that remind me a bit of U2, Sublime, and Tom Waits, but, overall, this is a refreshingly original band.

The lyrics are very caustic, and leave no room for God. But there's a lot of soul-searching, and, although they don't have any good answers, they ask plenty of good questions, which I can appreciate.

One of the year's best rock records.

[Wildcatblue7]

Ahhhh make them go away!!!  

Them and Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and all these other faux-indie rock bands that a lot of the snobs love.  Well, actually, I haven't heard of a lot of Killers fans, but dang are they pretentious.  This wave of . . . whatever it is . . . really is not my thing.

[bloop]

hmm...they've always struck me as a little silly to be considered pretentious.  

As for Modest Mouse, nothing faux about them.  They have a bona fide indie background.

[Wildcatblue7]

I know they have an indie background, but (maybe it's our radio station) has kind of emphasized that indie-ness, which has really irritated me and made them seem more pretentious then they probably are.  That and that whole style is just . . . not my thing.

[bloop]

I know they have an indie background, but (maybe it's our radio station) has kind of emphasized that indie-ness, which has really irritated me and made them seem more pretentious then they probably are.  That and that whole style is just . . . not my thing.

None of this is really the band's fault, least of all it not being your thing.

I just don't take the indie =] pretentious line of logic myself.

[Wildcatblue7]

I can understand that.  

My dislike of indie bands has more to do with their fans than the band themselves.

[bloop]

heh...I can still name the Modest Mouse fans I know on one hand, even after their surging popularity due to "Float On".  I should probably get out more.  I'm just happy they're doing well.

[Wildcatblue7]

I was speaking more generally than just about MM, since I can count the MM fans I know personally on one hand.  But I think you know what I meant.    

[bloop]

I was speaking more generally than just about MM, since I can count the MM fans I know personally on one hand.  But I think you know what I meant.  

hmm...I could speak generally that way, too.  I just can't name many indie music fans I know personally.  I think you may be reacting against some kind of straw man stereotype, but I don't know.  I do know that if I said such a thing, that would be exactly it.