Forum Album Club #9 Modest Mouse-The Lonesome Crowded West

[ManNamedTruth]

It seems like Polar Opposites should have been a hit back when this album was released. I think it fits with some of the alternative 90s music that was going on back then. I love this song so much.

You can say that with almost any good indie album. I can hear a couple songs here and there and think it could be a hit if those people calling the shots allowed it to. But why should they care what some indie band is doing, unless they get those bands to sign to their major label, witch eventually happened to Modest Mouse. I definitely wouldn't call them sell outs or anything.

Great point. I think Isaac Brock has done a great job of staying true to the music he wants to make his entire career. Definitely wouldn't label these guys sell outs.

It's interesting to compare Built To Spill with Modest Mouse, who I prefer over MM. Both started on Up Records, both eventually signed to a major label. Modest Mouse just happened to have a hit song, that was the main difference. It just happened like an accident or something. Built To Spill is still way less known. Even before Float On I was still aware of MM by name more than BTS though.

[ManNamedTruth]

Great album, hope and expect more to chime in. Like it more and more each listen Gotta go and catch the replay of American Horror Story!

[YimBlaylock]

It seems like Polar Opposites should have been a hit back when this album was released. I think it fits with some of the alternative 90s music that was going on back then. I love this song so much.

You can say that with almost any good indie album. I can hear a couple songs here and there and think it could be a hit if those people calling the shots allowed it to. But why should they care what some indie band is doing, unless they get those bands to sign to their major label, witch eventually happened to Modest Mouse. I definitely wouldn't call them sell outs or anything.

Great point. I think Isaac Brock has done a great job of staying true to the music he wants to make his entire career. Definitely wouldn't label these guys sell outs.

It's interesting to compare Built To Spill with Modest Mouse, who I prefer over MM. Both started on Up Records, both eventually signed to a major label. Modest Mouse just happened to have a hit song, that was the main difference. It just happened like an accident or something. Built To Spill is still way less known. Even before Float On I was still aware of MM by name more than BTS though.

That is interesting, because for this week's album club, I just about picked a BTS album, but went with this one at the last second. Probably my 2 favorite bands to come out of the 90s.

[YimBlaylock]

Great album, hope and expect more to chime in. Like it more and more each listen Gotta go and catch the replay of American Horror Story!

Haha. It's on my DVR so I'll probably tune in tomorrow. Thanks for your participation.

[sweatboard]

So what's up with Isaac Brock, he seems like a pretty crazy guy just from hearing his music.

"This may be all you need to know about Isaac Brock: Somewhere, he has a videotape of himself walking out into a thunderstorm, wearing a suit made of pots and pans, holding a metal guitar stand in the air.  He's shouting, "This is the best thing I have ever done"  Off-camera, a friend shouts back "God Doesn't Want You"

This story sold me on this guy even more than I already was.  Float On is a great song by a great band.  I think their last couple records are as good as anything they've put out thus far.  So, fuck you! and don't float on, if you don't agree.   :-*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock's_Monument

"HERE LIE THE EARTHLY REMAINS OF A BRAVE AND VIRTUOUS HERO, MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, COMMANDER OF THE BRITISH FORCES, AND PRESIDENT ADMINISTERING THE GOVERNMENT OF UPPER CANADA, WHO FELL WHEN GLORIOUSLY ENGAGING THE ENEMIES OF HIS COUNTRY, AT THE HEAD OF THE FLANK COMPANIES OF THE 49TH REGIMENT IN THE TOWN OF QUEENSTON, ON THE MORNING OF THE 13TH OCTOBER, 1812 AGED 42 YEARS

A 1929 lightning strike severely damaged Brock's statue, sending large portions crashing to the ground below.
;)

[Murph]

Styrofoam Boots/Its All Nice On Ice, Alright is another great song on this album.  Some of my favorite MM lyrics

well some guy comes in looking a bit like everyone i ever seen
he moves just like crisco disco
breath 100% listerine
he says looking at something else
but directing everything to me
ever time anyone gets on their knees to pray
well it makes my telephone ring
and i'll be damned
he said you were right
no one's running this whole thing
he had a theory too
he said that god takes care of himself
and you of you

[mjk73]

I think their last couple records are as good as anything they've put out thus far. 

agreed. Spitting Venom and Little Motels will getchu where you need to be.

[YimBlaylock]

I think their last couple records are as good as anything they've put out thus far. 

agreed. Spitting Venom and Little Motels will getchu where you need to be.

Yep. With just those two and Fly Trapped in a Jar, you'd be pretty much guaranteed a far-above-average album. Add Parting of the Sensory and you're golden. Love that album.

[wolof7]

ok so sorry for bein late to the party here Yim, technical difficulties....

....I once read that one of Issac Brock's biggest influences was writer Cormac MacCarthy and to me this album is the embodiment of the most brutal and gruesome of his works (e.g. Child of God, Blood Meridian, the Road). It has post-apocalyptic road trip out west all over it.

To me this album reinforced the sheer innovativeness of the band, i had never heard anything like it when i first heard it, and i not only listened to a lot of built to spill, i had seen them live 2x and despite the basic geographic relation i just considered the 2 bands commonlaw indie bands but MM had Brock (who at first I despised bc of his voice) and BtS had Martsch (guitar god).....

.....for a while I thought that MM was not a real band. I thought how could these crazy homeless guys or psych patient's stay out of the hospital long enough to tour. Now i know that's harsh and stupid but its what their music conveyed to me....

What I realized was that Lonesome Crowded West / Moon and Antartica was beyond my listening skills at the time. I could get behind BtS bc the guitar was soooo good and they had some hooks. Whereas Modest Mouse was like a mangey dog yelping and attacking, never settling into anything comfortable.....Then came Good News and it all clicked.

But Lonesome, here we go:

[wolof7]

Teeth like God's Shoeshine - Insane title, insane song, as I said before it is the sound I believe of going crazy.

Heart Cooks Brain - I agree Yim not the strongest effort but I enjoy it, never skip....Possibly MM first attempts at writing a groove oriented song.........more to come

Conveinient Parking - great imagery here from Brock....There are songs like this that MM write that may not be too popular but due the writing and the driving chorus will always work....

Lounge (Closing Time) - Great shapeshifting MM song...Starts off silly and transcends to dark effortlessly....really beautiful MM imho

Jesus Christ was  an Only Child - Mustve been a sign of things to come for this band, shows that they have some innovation in their back pocket....That violin is amazing.....I fucking love this song....Think this song laid the groundwork for Good News amalgam of styles.

Doin the Cockroach - The only time I saw MM (after We Were Dead was released) they played this...I had never heard it and my MM reach hadn't extended to LCW yet. Another great track...They use that spacey flanger/harmonic sound which is such apart of MM its unmistakeable. I really like the guitar work in this even the basic rhythym is funky in that post-apocalyptic way.

Cowboy Dan - He drove to the desert fired his rifle in the sky and says "God if I have to die you will have to die" Seriously heavy shit in this one....such a great, scary track...has everything a great MM trakc has, good poetic storytelling, schizophrenic guitars, its just up there in my book.

[wolof7]

Trailer Trash  - Such a beautiful song and perfectly placed after several crazy tracks...I really love this song and always seem to forget about it....Has that MM guitar sound but it really works at the end....These lyrics are surprisngly undisguised but the song makes up for it....can't relate to them all.

Out of Gas - fun play with words which remind me most of BtS out of anything on this album....the themes of almost specifically truck driving, anyone make anything of this? I guess i need to read more into it....I suppose what I'm getting is a ravaged American landscape as seen through the eyes of a trucker?

Long Distance Drunk - Not a favorite. Possibly the sole weak track on this album. Uncertain what it is supposed to represent here. Maybe the placement is off, after out of Gas I am ready for another track that messes with me....maybe if it came after Shit liuck I like it more...

Shit Luck - Interestingly this is the first MM song I ever heard. I hated it. Now I fucking Love it....simple but effective....great show from Brock.....nuff said.

Trucker's Atlas - Great Epic here....some great drumwork too...."I don't feel and it feels great!" great line...

Polar Opposites - Although Atlas is epic in its length this is epic in its delivery....fucking love this song, it gets me geared up....this album has some seriously dark lyrics....This guy knows what depression is...

Bankrupt on Selling - Nice dark track....love both lyrics and music on this one...almost sounds like the flaming lips here.

Styrofoam boots- Apt closer for such a crazy album....


Thanks Yim for reminding me that this album exists....it's been a while since i've listened. Great album for the forum club....I'd give it a 9.4/10....

[YimBlaylock]

Great analysis wolof. Only MacCarthy I've read so far is The Road. I'd never heard that about Brock, so I'd never made the connection between this album and that book, but it made so much sense as soon as you saw it. Not sure anyone can make you feel the intensity of a post-apocalyptic, forsaken world like Brock and MacCarthy. I agree with you about "Jesus Christ," fits perfectly into that Good News sound (i.e. "Satin in a Coffin," "Dance Hall," etc.). Also really like your description of "Cowboy Dan" as having schizophrenic guitars. That main riff took a while for me to come to grips with and is still a little unsettling. The best example I can think of, of the mind of a character in a song being so perfectly captured by the music in a song. It's about enough to turn me paranoid.

[capt. scotty]

Modest Mouse is 1 of those bands that I never really got into, but always like. I dont throw this album on often, but when I do, I wonder why I dont do it more often.

Awesome album. Its long, but MM really mix it up and keep you in it for the long run.

favorite tracks: God's Shoeshine, heart Cooks brain, Lounge (closing time), Trailer Trash, bankrupt on Selling

Im surprised for the hate on 'heart Cooks brain' in here...love that song. the rest always stood out out as my favorites as well

I never even knew these songs names until yesterday. Ive always loved the opener, but called it "Orange Julius" to myself  ;D

Didnt realize this was a 1997 release either. Figured it was early 2000's