Now that Modest Mouse have fully established themselves as a major-label indie rock band -- no longer an oxymoron! -- with the success of 2004's Good News for People Who Love Bad News (though they had actually been on Sony, through Epic, since 2000's The Moon & Antarctica), they face the difficult task of trying to follow up a mainstream hit while still retaining the adroit quirkiness that won them fans in the first place. Finding that space between "creativity" and "accessibility" is not easy, but the band (with help from Johnny Marr, among others) is probably as well, if not better, equipped as anyone to tackle the challenge. The first single, "Dashboard," is catchy and interesting, even a little off-kilter, but it's also completely radio-friendly, in that dancey Franz Ferdinand kind of way, and the album's opener, "March into the Sea," has great juxtaposition between Isaac Brock's maniacal Cookie Monster laugh and lighter accordion and string work. It's slightly unconventional, and has that raucous energy the band has thrived on, but it's also wholly understandable and approachable, and a lot of fun. Still, too often it seems as if Modest Mouse plays it safe on We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. James Mercer, the singer of the "life-changing" Garden State darlings the Shins, shows up three times on background vocals, and while on "Florida" this works well enough, "Missed the Boat" and "We've Got Everything" are among the weakest tracks on the record, too predictable, in that radio-indie-rock style, to do much more than just take up space. There's nothing overtly wrong with them (or the similarly boring "Education" or "People as Places as People") -- Brock's lyrics are as wackily introspective as ever -- but the band had never just gotten by on being nice-sounding and unmemorable. It's not that Modest Mouse has lost it, or sold out; tracks like "Parting of the Sensory" and "Fly Trapped in a Jar" combine digestible guitar lines and phrasing with a rawer intensity, and show that the group is indeed capable of moving innovate "indie" music to the mainstream ("someday you will die somehow and something's gonna steal your carbon," Brock sings ingeniously over pounding, swirling drums in a kind of post-modern chant in "Parting"), but overall, We Were Dead Before... has chosen the safer, more acceptable route over the more adventurous one. Modest Mouse is a talented bunch, and so the album still works, is still enjoyable. But because they've built themselves on pushing boundaries and traditional sounds, it's also a glaring representation of all they could do, but won't.
Artist: Modest MouseAlbum: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even SankClick here to downloaddownload March Into The Sea mp3download Dashboard mp3download Fire It Up mp3download Florida mp3download Parting Of The Sensory mp3download Missed The Boat mp3download We've Got Everything mp3download Fly Trapped In A Jar mp3download Education mp3download Little Motel mp3download Steam Engenius mp3download Sp...
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So who else went to this fantastic fiesta of a festival? This was actually my first festival ever! I know, 29 and behind the times. What a good start though. Although the days temps were exhaustingly hot, so were the bands! The Police, The Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Modest Mouse, Wu-Tang Clan, Bad Brains, Regina Spektor, Spoon, M.I.A., 311, Yeah Yeah Yeahs just to name a FEW! The show st...
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MODEST MOUSE – WE WERE DEAD BEFORE THE SHIP EVEN SANK (2007)RATINGI have a confession. I loved “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” and when the damn good news came on the wire here in good old Blighty that one of our greatest Guitar sons (Johnny Marr) had joined Isaac Brock’s collective, my faith in the USA/UK ‘special relationship’ grew to unparalleled levels. As is my routine fo
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Just received this morning so this is a fairly quick review on the album as I have only heard it once.Generally very good and I expect it to get better after half a dozen or so plays.I think this is the first album that features The marvelous "Marr", Serious Moggers will confirm, and many of the songs do have that smiths guitar sound although hidden in the background rather than the familiar Sm...
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Am I the only person from the 80s who missed The Smiths? I lived in Tokyo and Japan just ignored them - guess an Oscar quoting gladi toting singer wasn’t in their equation. So when I got offered tickets to see Modest Mouse – and therefore Johnny Marr – I wasn’t saying ‘no’.Modest Mouse is another band that’s escaped my radar. In my universe, band names are iconic and make-ya-wanna-se
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It's a little overcast today - good day for catching up on MOG - thinking about changing my name to SatisfiedMind Two.On Sunday, April 29, I was having some tea while waiting for G to wake up and I was searching the Web and looking at MOG. I decided to see when Modest Mouse would be playing around New York. Well they were playing at the United Palace in Washington Heights that night. I seached ...
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Thursday April 26, 2007Modest Mouse with Love As Laughter and Man Man.The Armory is a beautiful old church that has been refurbished as a venue for the CFL Rochester Raiders football team. The floor was covered in fake grass for the Raiders games, complete with yardlines. It's a small venue, but the high ceilings are a significant addition to the acoustics. *Love As Laughter* started the show ...
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If "Frank Zappa":http://mog.com/sugarbaby/blog_post/22772 is a guy thing, Modest Mouse seems to be a girl thing. And by a girl thing, I mean a dystopian-white-girl-destined-for-Connecticut-but-sowing-her-drunken-crazy-granola-"Girl Power!" thing. And yes, I know Connecticut is for fucking, but that's only 10% of the population. The rest spend their time making planters out of popsicle sticks...
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...down to the ocean floor! oh! oh! I love it!
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Check out the new album. I've been a MM fan for a long time now, and regardless of the naysayers, We Were Dead... is a fantastic album. Florida is currently one of my favorite tracks. James Mercer of the Shins lends his vocals to this tune.
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Moggers, please excuse a potentially offensive but well-deserved dig on hipsters. Hipsters are like the mean retarded kid with a bullhorn – loud, obnoxious & easily distracted by shiny objects.“But the production values! The production values!”Yeah, you know what? Sometimes it’s okay for good music to actually sound good too. Johnny Marr’s on the record for Crissakes! Be happy already!Ah
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I'd just like to offer a thought:No one should be surprised that Modest Mouse is at #1 on the Billboard charts.Oh, and thanks for listening, everyone who decided to check out my record yesterday. If you still want a copy, I don't mind you asking - lemme know!
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whoooa, it has been awhile.i was thinking about buying the new modest mouse cd. i like the single a lot. i get annoyed when it is described as "radio-friendly"...to me it is just modest mouse, and that is that. modest mouse is one of those bands that changes its sounds with basically every record (at least i think so)...that is what makes them pretty much awesome. the only song that i don't rea...
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On 19 March, Duck and Cover reviewed the new Modest Mouse album. You can read the review here, or just listen to the track. Enjoy! D&C
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Modest Mouse is one of those bands that I don't like to play when I have friends around who aren't already familiar with them. You could say they're an aquired taste, but this is only true to some of the people some of the time, and not as a general rule. Still, I'm not blasting ??We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank?? for everyone I know because I'm fairly certain that Isaac Brock's voice will
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Twenty years ago, The Smiths and R.E.M. were just two bands that happen to come along and in part define a decade. Guitarist Johnny Mar, once with the Smiths and now with Modest Mouse, recently weighed in on his current group's upcoming tour with the legendary Athens, Georgia trio in the US this May.R.E.M. is in promotion mode for their April 1 release of ??Accelerate??, Marr says the prospect...
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Modest Mouse is heading out on a late spring/summer tour with REM and the National. (On the indie front this tour almost compares with the mini traveling festival that is Kanye West's tour.) Just thought I'd fill you in. There isn't any new album they're plugging. Modest Mouse are still touring in support of We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.Fri 23-May Vancouver, BC Deer Lake ParkThu 29-Ma...
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| Modest Mouse - "Little Motel." Released October 4th, the latest off ??We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank??.
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Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock began hitting himself in the face with his microphone, then proceeded to draw a knife and cut his own chest during a performance at Ramkota Exhibit Hall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Sunday evening, March 18, a source at Epic Records, the label the group records for confirmed to MOG today.The incident was first reported by Pitchfork; one of their readers, Joshu...
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Am I the only person from the 80s who missed The Smiths? I lived in Tokyo and Japan just ignored them - guess an Oscar quoting gladi toting singer wasn’t in their equation. So when I got offered tickets to see Modest Mouse – and therefore Johnny Marr – I wasn’t saying ‘no’.Modest Mouse is another band that’s escaped my radar. In my universe, band names are iconic and make-ya-wanna-se
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Fader Magazine interviews Modest Mouse frontman, Isaac Brock about the new album, Johnny Marr, and other juicy stuff.
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*BUT* Will Modest Mouse *Ever* Come to Florida?I've been keeping and eye out on the Modest Mouse Tour. Everytime I get a newletter of the subject. I get a little excited, but just to be let down again. It's okay though...I have hope!!! The last show listed is New Orleans, and it's close to the Sunshine state, so please keep your fingers crossed and hope they don't wear themselves out by the...
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Earlier today "Jonh":http://mog.com/jonh_Ingham/blog_post/93526#comments posted about how our society is seriously lacking in our focus on science. So when I came across this video, I thought of changing that, one MOG post at a time.the wood spider
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Tonight was the first week anniversary of living in our new place. It's been bliss. Last night, we went on a dinner date to our favorite Mexican Restaurant in Pasadena. Our dinner and a movie was a celebration of Michelle's getting a new gig during the fall semester at her grad school. She's excited. Speaking of the movie, we went and saw the new Hunter S. Thompson documentary, Gonzo, at the Pa...
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Nr 5 of my top 10 of 2007!Band: Modest MouseTitle: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even SankBest Track: DashboardBest line: “Who the hell made you the boss? If you say what to do, I know what not to stop.”Trivia: “Dashboard” was the first single Toured the album with Johnny Marr, Former The Smiths guitarist The fifth album of Modest MouseStubborn and with its own curious sound,
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tracks:artists:
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While their website continues to suck (http://www.downloadfestival.com/index.php), the initial lineups have been confirmed. What I am excited about is that the preliminary lineup looks like a block of music off of my IPod.On August 18th at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Mass, I get to seeModest MouseThe ShinsIncubus (my girl's soooo happy)Neko CaseWolf ParadeBand of Horsesand that's just the...
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Modest Mouse is one of those bands that I don't like to play when I have friends around who aren't already familiar with them. You could say they're an aquired taste, but this is only true to some of the people some of the time, and not as a general rule. Still, I'm not blasting ??We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank?? for everyone I know because I'm fairly certain that Isaac Brock's voice will
More >
MODEST MOUSE – WE WERE DEAD BEFORE THE SHIP EVEN SANK (2007)RATINGI have a confession. I loved “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” and when the damn good news came on the wire here in good old Blighty that one of our greatest Guitar sons (Johnny Marr) had joined Isaac Brock’s collective, my faith in the USA/UK ‘special relationship’ grew to unparalleled levels. As is my routine fo
More >
Modest Mouse just released a animated and psychedelic new video for their song "Fly Trapped In A Jar". The video was directed by The Saline Project and it looks like the band is performing in a bubblegum world somewhere in Second Life."Fly Trapped In A Jar" is off their 2007 release, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 March into the Sea |
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| 2 Dashboard |
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| 3 Fire It Up |
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| 4 Florida |
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| 5 Parting of the Sensory |
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| 6 Missed the Boat |
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| 7 We've Got Everything |
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| 8 Fly Trapped in a Jar |
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| 9 Education |
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| 10 Little Motel |
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| 11 Steam Engenius |
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| 12 Spitting Venom |
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| 13 People as Places as People |
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| 14 Invisible |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank")
