Modest Mouse’s sixth album, ‘Strangers To Ourselves‘, comes out after an eight-year hiatus which included prolonged recording sessions and a cancelled tour.
Since the release of ‘We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank‘ in 2007, the band has lost three members – Eric Judy (bass/multi-instrumentalist), Johnny Marr (guitar), and Joe Plummer (drums/percussion) – meaning leader Isaac Brock has filled out the lineup by adding Russell Higbee on bass, Jim Fairchild on guitar and Lisa Mollinaro on keys; all of whom joined the band between 2009-2012.
Indeed, Modest Mouse has undergone its fair share of lineup changes over the years, but the band has distinctly remained true to its own brand and sound. Although there may be a bunch of new faces making the noise, ‘Strangers To Ourselves’ for the most part sounds familiar, and after eight long years that’s sure to please fans.
The album’s sprawling fifteen song-set opens with slow cello strokes and warm stand up bass plucks. The title track’s sparse production and slow tempo makes for a nostalgic reunion, while the band bring the energy up on lead single ‘Lampshades On Fire’. The song is a prototypical Modest Mouse affair, filled with jumpy vocals from Brock, quirky studio sound effects and tumbling drums. It will be a quintessential addition to their outstanding live show. The booming ‘Shit In Your Gut’ is dark and murky, and features an outstanding riff which may be the long lost cousin of The Killers’ ‘Uncle Jonny’.
New textures are explored with the Caribbean tinged ‘Ansel’ and the circus influenced ‘Sugar Boats,’ which has one of the album’s raunchiest guitar riffs. ‘The Ground Walks, With Time In a Box’ is a cascading disco anthem filled with horns, strings and superb guitar work. The seductive and dressed down ‘Pups To Dust’ is another album highlight, and the band remains as dynamic as ever when displaying their softer melodic side on ‘Coyotes’, although a little later the crumpled glitch of ‘Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996)’ is the only misstep.
The album’s final sequence is introduced by the campy ‘God Is An Indian and You’re An Asshole’, but the band soon bursts into the epic ‘The Tortoise and The Tourist‘ and the dynamic, suburban ‘The Best Room‘ which features an excellent vocal from Brock and might just be the best song on the album. The rest fill out the sound with sharp, bending guitar interplay into ‘Of Course We Know‘, a cooling cinematic closer that reaches for the sky.
Modest Mouse’s off-kilter brand of rock n’ roll has shifted, torn up and twisted the definition of indie, but over the course of their career they’ve won the affections from just about every crowd, all while steadily climbing their way to the top. The band was born out of the DIY 90s punk scene, from there slowly achieving cult status and critical acclaim.
They may not be the same group they were twenty years ago, but they’ve always had a unified identity, and while ‘Strangers To Ourselves’ may not be their best, it quickly reminds you Modest Mouse are still one of the best out there.
With news of a second album coming in 2015, Modest Mouse are indeed back with a vengeance.
