LMF - Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse is another band my old chum Jeff introduced me to. Going on ten years ago, he was out in the Seattle area for work and spent his free time driving around to the National Parks and mountains, listening to local radio. Modest Mouse was just a local act at that time that was burning up the indie stations of the Pacific Northwest. A year later, we were at the Orpheum in Madison enjoying an amazing show, including an opening turn from the reunited Camper von Beethoven.

Most casual observers of alt./indie music have at least heard the Mouse track "Float On" a few too many times, but that really is the tip of the iceberg and not really their best work. They are a band that really kind of snuck up on me. I never really dove into it right away, but I put a bunch of their tracks on my iPod. After a few weeks of commutes to and from the office, I starting really getting into a few of the songs that popped up and starting double-taking to see that they were Modest Mouse tunes. I'm still exploring their catalog, even as they keep cranking out new music. I believe they have released 5 full length albums and 5 EPs over about a dozen years.

Modest Mouse is led by semi-deranged genius songwriter, guitarist and singer, Isaac Brock. The guy is really an interesting artist, and seems a tad off-kilter, which is always promising for an artist. I chose the song "3rd Planet" because I think it sounds really cool, and I love the way Isaac Brock can deliver some of the saddest lyrics I've ever heard in a song that just sounds kind of non-chalant and calm. It's more like the casual depression that comes from being shell-shocked by tragedy and not really feeling the pain. I'm not really sure what this song is about, but it seems to have a theme of a couple that had a child die, and a guy who has some real anger and cynicism toward religion as part of the whole experience.

Well a third had just been made and we were swimming in the water
Didn't know then, was it a son was it a daughter?
And it occurred to me that the animals were swimming
Around in the water in the oceans of our bodies
And another had been found, another ocean on the planet
Given that our blood is just like the Atlantic, and how

The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth
If you go straight long enough, you end up where you were
That's how the world began
And that's how the world will end

Your heart felt good, it was dripping pitch and made of wood
And your hands and knees felt cold and wet on the grass beneath
Outside, naked, shivering, looking blue
From the cold sunlight that's reflected off the moon
Baby-cum-angels fly around you
Reminding you we used to be three and not two
And that's how the world began
And that's how the world will end