Two Drunk Guys Review: Modest Mouse | Strangers to OurselvesEmpty Bottle Evenings

Apr022015April 2, 2015April 2, 20151 Commentby Beef Wellington

Two Drunk Guys Review: Modest Mouse | Strangers to Ourselves

Posted in Music

C: Based on the pre-released tracks, my initial feeling about this album was roughly the same as how I felt about the new Father John Misty album. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like it. I mean, how much does Modest Mouse have left in the tank at this point? Counting EPs they’ve put out over 10 records and I just had a hard time believing this album was going to be anything I’d care to listen to more than once.

Well, I’ve listen to it 4 or 5 times now and it’s better than I expected. I’m still not sure exactly how I feel about it. Their albums tend to take awhile to sink in for me but it feels a lot like old Modest Mouse. Mostly in the sense that half the songs are so weird I can’t listen to them and the other half get stuck in my head immediately…. but that’s sort of what I love about the classic Modest Mouse records.

B: I actually went into this expecting to like it. I know, always a terrible idea. But i feel the same about their “classic” albums where half the songs were great and the other half was listenable noise. People fellate The Lonesome Crowded West so hard. Album of the 90s? How many times have you actually listened to it start to finish? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Fuck off.

But I still liked some of their early stuff, really like The Moon and Antarctica, and loved Good News for People that Love Bad News. So society beat us over the head and crammed”Float On” down our throats and up our asses. So what? That whole album is great. Except “Blame it on the Tetons”. Fuck that song. BUT It’s one of the weirdest mainstream albums I’ve ever heard and I still enjoy it. And while everything after that is mediocre, I don’t hate it either. I’m thinking worst case scenario I will like half of the new album.

C: My favorite thing about their old albums has always been the deep cuts. They all have at least a couple of songs that just hit you in the face and are pretty accessible right away… but the best tracks are always the slightly weird ones that take some time to absorb. I’m not really sure there’s any of those on Strangers to Ourselves and to be honest I don’t think there were any on their last record either. Strangers to Ourselves is still pretty decent but I guess I just have to face the fact they’ll never make another record I’m going to like as much as The Moon and Antarctica. I’ve always know that to be true but… I’m 30 years old, and if I can’t dream what the fuck do I have left.

B: Yeah Cam, you can scream “We have to go back” til you’re blue in the face like a deranged Jack Shephard but Modest Mouse was never going to make a record that sounds like anything from 2000 or before. The dream is over. I haven’t listened to Strangers to Ourselves enough to know which ones are growers instead of show-ers but there are a few tracks that are already sorting themselves out into love it or hate it piles. I really like the first single “Lampshades on Fire” because it mixes the newer dancey pop Modest Mouse with a sound that goes back 20 years. And let me be clear, by sound I don’t mean an overall quality to their music but that specific string of distorted guitar notes that this band has featured on every album for the last two decades. It’s comforting in sort weird I’m-afraid-of-change sort of way. On the other hand I downright loathe “Pistol” because it’s electronic crap and Brock’s voice is already weird enough, why does he need to screw around even more here? The first time I listened to that song I thought “Well, shit, I guess I won’t be listening to this album start to finish regularly. There have to be some songs on here that are doing something for you, right?

C: Oh don’t get me wrong, there are definitely tracks I enjoy. Overall I think it’s a pretty decent album…. but also I’m just turning into more and more of a crotchety old dick bag with each passing day. I’m about 2 steps away from keeping all my money in a can buried in the yard. That’s a story for another day though. So far I’ve been into “Coyotes”, it’s got that same sort of sweet folksy vibe as “Once Chance” or “The World at Large”. I also really like the title track. Initially, it didn’t do anything for me but I guess that old Modest Mouse magic was at work and it’s wormed it’s way into my brain. I’m inclined to agree with you on “Pistol”, it’s weird as fuck and I hate it. Again though, that’s kind of what I love about Modest Mouse. Most bands would never consider putting something so weird on a record of otherwise normal tacks… but I’m pretty sure Isaac Brock just doesn’t give a shit. It might not make for as good an album but I respect it.

B: Yeah he can do whatever he wants, he’s earned that much, but that song is still dogshit. The Floyd-esque title track still hasn’t completely grown on me yet even though I’ve listen to it more times than any other song because it’s the album opener and I’m a traditionalist, starting it each time at the top. I’m also an alcoholic who will often pass out before finishing the rest of the album. Having said that, I’ve listened to most of the other songs quite a few times by now and some are certainly grabbing my ear. Not literally(Yes I needed to clarify that. Eat shit). Even though it can be stupidly repetitive I still enjoy “Be Brave” and how can I not with uplifting lyrics like ” Well the earth doesn’t care/And we hardly even matter/We’re just a bit more piss to push out its full bladder/And as our bodies break down Into all their rocky little bits/Piled up under mountains of dirt and silt and still/The world, it don’t give a shit”. Ah, depression. Or critical thinking. Who can really say?I think my favorite track off Strangers to Ourselves at the moment is the carnival-evoking “Sugar Boats”. It’s an odd sounding for most bands but seems like something Modest Mouse might try, because why not? Every time that I write an album I want at least one song to make the listener envision marching elephants. Those majestic and nimble elephants.

C: Ha ha, ya that is a strange one but I like it. It makes me feel like I’m at a carnival that’s filled with angry, drunk clowns. I’m also partial to “God is and Indian and You’re an Asshole”… mostly because of the name but also because it’s short and to the point. Which I guess is that god is an Indian and I’m an asshole? I’m not really sure what that means but it feels like it’s probably true so I’ll roll with it. The closing track, “Of Course We Know”, is probably be my favorite from this album so far. By the end it builds up to this weird, sad crescendo and the lyrics might be some of the best on the whole record. It’s just unfortunate that it’s the last track, I think it would have been a much stronger record if they’d put it somewhere up front.

Going forward I feel like we should start using some sort of a 2 drunk guy rating system. Overall I liked it, so I’m going to go ahead and give this album 3 beers up… that’s like one 40. Make of that what you will.

B: Yeah it sucks when a closing track on an up-and-down album is strong because a lot of people will just never get there. Quitters. I’ve gotten there myself 20 times or so by now and I can say definitively that Strangers to Ourselves is a mixed bag: catchy and unlistenable, weird as fuck at times and boring as watching golf at other times. It’s not the best Modest Mouse album of all time, but not worse. Which is about the least definitive overall review a person can give. I feel proud.

Rating: I would have to give this one 12 pack sample. It comes with the old standby, the standout, the weird seasonal that you could have every once in awhile but not every day, and one shitty flavor that you never want to taste again. Like Apricot. Or Pistol.