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We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Modest Mouse

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iTunes Review

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is a gripping and satisfying recording, with skittering tempos, jerky rhythms, and delightful surprises around every quirky corner. Lead singer, guitarist, and gifted songwriter Isaac Brock sounds positively manic on the clattering “March Into the Sea.” “Dashboard” and “Steam Engenius” are funky and undeniably catchy, “Little Motel” manages to be both tender and oddly off balance, and not many singers could make a line like “Someday you will die somehow and something’s gonna steal your carbon” work(from the standout “Parting of the Sensory”). A notable addition to the band on this recording is former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, whose chiming, lyrical style meshes beautifully with Brock’s jagged and idiosyncratic playing. Marr’s contributions help the band create a fuller sound without sacrificing any of the inherent strangeness that makes them so consistently inventive and fascinating. Modest Mouse manage to compromise nothing and still create compelling pop music even as their audience grows, and that’s a feat few contemporary bands can pull off.

Customer Reviews

It's raining on my picnic right now...

There are two very ligit camps right now: Those who are new to Modest Mouse and are loving what's been coming out, and those who live and die by Dramamine, Night on the Sun, Cowboy Dan, and others. For those of the later, please read my review because I am one of you... Consequently, there are two reviews: REVIEW 1 I'm actually very thankful that there are tons of 5-star reviews. Those are the people who are new to Modest Mouse and it's great they've gotten a huge fan base! They deserve it, don't they? Not to mention they are pulling a RedHotChiliPepper by using a newer sound to get new fans to check out their old stuff. At least I hope those who first heard of Modest Mouse via "Float On" have bought The Lonsome Crowded West, et al. So in line with appeasing that crowd - which is not better or worse than us - this album really is 5 stars! It takes the new music and is little-by-little putting older elements back in. Review 1 score: 4 stars REVIEW 2 Now for those who feel the best music in the world is the harmonic layer of amazing melodies from "Talking S*** About A Pretty Sunset" or the brash, in-your-face sound of "Mechanical Birds", this album fails to compare. But can you blame them? The first two albums were done mostly by just a 3-member band! Not to mention the recording equipment sucked, and they were so young and drugged out. One of the songs on Sad Sappy Sucker was recorded into an answering machine, for goodness sake! It was beautiful then. And as much as we whine and complain, they won't get back to that sound because it's literally impossible. So to that, I tell those who moan that it fails to compare to "Doing the Cockrache" etc., loosen up! Enjoy the fact that they are finally making the money they truly deserve. Enjoy the fact they are gaining the popularity they deserve. Enjoy it because it's literally impossible for them to be like their oldselves. Review 2 score: 3 stars In contrast, Death Cab for Cutie is a band that has sold out hardcore and changed their sound much earlier than they needed to. That's the type of situation where we can compare the new albums to the old, because the old really aren't that old at all! I hope this review helps. Enjoy the album for whichever review category you fit into. It is what it is, and it's fairly enjoyable! P.S. - it's better than Good News as well..

The Most Amazing Album. Ever.

I have 1500 artists on my iTunes library, and this is not only putting Modest Mouse at number one, the album is number one as well. iTunes let me download this before 3/20, so I don't know what will be the popular tracks yet, but my favorite so far is Little Motel. A break down: This hits many aspects. To begin, there are many songs on here that are like old MM. They are closer to the This Is a Long Drive moments than Good News or Moon/Ant. There are also many songs like the Float On and newer album style, especially Dashboard and We've Got Everything. However, MM has brought something totally new to the palette, a style of music they are yet to use, and I must say, it is amazing. The lyrics are, as always, hilarious, witty, and you have to read over them a million times just to begin to understand them. The music on this album ranges from an almost Flea-like bass riffs, onto loud heavily distorted guitars imitating fly noises, onto clean, electric ballads which could be beautiful as an instrument. It's just so ridiculously amazing as an album. It's like impossible to find a song that someone won't absolutely love. I've only heard through this album one time, and it's definitely one of, if not, my absolute favorite, when it normally takes me atleast 50 times to hear an album before I can define it as it's "best". I have huge hopes for this album, and I hope it is a commercial success. It deserves to be. From the Float On moments of Dashboard to the riffs in the background of Spitting Venom which were used in Moon and Antartica (listen about halfway through the song, 5 min in), to the distorted guitar in a Fly Trapped In a Jar, this is an amazing, original, beautiful, witty album. Modest Mouse started off with Isaac Brock recording songs without musical instrument as you can hear on the A Capella recordings where you can hear all the background noise and it sounds like early nirvana outtakes, funny but generally not very interesting. They evolved a bit when taking on Moon/ Good News, but they were expanding at a rate so that they lost a bit about them which made them so special. They've finally caught it. Maybe it was Marr, from the Smiths, who has now joined MM, which brought them back into place. Who knows. All I know is that this is the most amazing album of all time.

Going in a new direction, and not a good one

The new Modest Mouse album is by no means lacking in hard-biting guitar or unique and powerful vocals, only in compelling melodies. If you're used to the Modest Mouse that provides incredible melodies and versatile songwriting, think again. I love every Modest Mouse album including the previous release, "Good News for People Who Love Bad News", but this one falls very short. There are too many weak songs. They are weak in the most important aspect: the ability to write powerful songs far before the polished sound of the final cut. A well-written song is good regardless of production quality and skillful playing of instruments. That said, I think it's obvious that these songs lack the creativity of previous releases. There are a couple of songs that I find echo the quality of earlier works, namely "Invisible" and "Steam Engenius", but even these are a far cry from the inspiring riffs that make up earlier albums. I'm not one to scream "Sell Out", but I am one to point out a poorly written album when I hear it, and this is one of them.

Biography

Formed: 1993 in Issaquah, WA

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

Issaquah, WA, indie rock trio Modest Mouse was formed in 1993 by vocalist/guitarist Isaac Brock, bassist Eric Judy, and drummer Jeremiah Green. After honing their muscular sound in "The Shed" — a makeshift practice space built by Brock on the land next to his mother's trailer — Modest Mouse entered Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Studios to cut their 1994 self-titled debut single, released on Johnson's K Records label. Following a move to the Up label, the trio issued two 1996 LPs, This...
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