Record Reviews
Modest Mouse
We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
The new effort from Modest Mouse takes what the general populace responded to on Good News For People Who Love Bad News and runs with it, leaving knocked over pedestrians and stunned onlookers in it's wake like it was Ron Burgundy rushing to the channel 4 studios after his dog was kicked off a bridge in Anchorman.
Obscure and non-sensical film references aside, the We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank is chock full of higher tempo, left of centre rock songs, rather than the eclectic and more subdued mix that was found on the previous album. This makes for a heavier initial impact with many songs hitting the listener sqaure in the noggin, while others whisp narrowly past the ears, arms and neck. This seems good enough at first, however eventually the feeling that the album doesn't quite fit together as nicely as it could starts manifesting in your mind, which is in stark contrast to Good News which made more sense as an album the more times you listened to it.
The album's strengths are in its one off moments of brilliance, unfortunately the finished product is worth slightly less than the some of its parts.
