Modest Mouse

Isaac Brock's grasp on mortality is still marked by nervous bits of energy, but never has his group sounded so full and melodious. Even though an array of ornate instruments replaces the scratchy, explosive bits, Modest Mouse retain their original approach to guitar sounds and unique song arrangements.

Modest Mouse could easily be mistaken for indie-rock also-rans - they look like small-town
misfits and usually sound like that, too, between their detuned guitars and unpretentious
Pavement affect. But there's some mystery in their equation that sets this Issaquah,
Washington, band apart: They make a peculiar brand of existential folk poetry, one that
combines singer-guitarist Isaac Brock's desperately uneasy vocals with off-kilter... More >

Weathered now, their herky-jerk stands up smartly to interjections from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. They've outgrown Bukowski if not drifters and scored a video hit in which they back into a police car without penalty, bitch proactively here and shrug passively there, and--good for them--can't resist the old trope of sampling a baby's cry onto a song. Why am I certain one of them fathered the baby? Ah, bittersweet mystery of life. (Grade - A-)