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Date -
18/11/04 |
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| Readers' score - None |
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| This has been a year of evolution for Modest Mouse, as in 2004 we have seen this bashful rodent transform from an indie ugly duckling to a beautiful alt Americana butterfly. |
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Confused zoological metaphors aside, there has definitely been a lot going on with Modest Mouse in recent times. Skip back to spring this year, and unless you were the crowned monarch of obscure alternative US bands in your particular locale, the odds are on that you had never heard of Isaac Brocks’ leftfield slacker three-piece.
But somewhere around 2003 the band lost drummer Jeremiah Green, hired replacement Benjamin Weikel and extra guitarist Dann Gallucci, and recorded an album completely different to anything they had done before.
Good News For People Who Love Bad News is a near-perfect set of pristinely recorded, succinct alternative-rock excellence. While purists argue that its commercial sheen and comparative brevity has robbed the band of their edge, it is worth pointing out that these people are just being grumpy ELITISTS. There’s some great stuff in Modest Mouse’s back-catalogue, but what we have now is essentially a different band that needs to be taken on its own terms.
Though with Brocks at the helm there is no way that Modest Mouse could lose their character. An explosive mix of rage, disgust and resignation, he comes across like a bigger Frank Black in a smaller bottle, though he does have a gentler touch than the Pixies’ alien-baiting nutjob. And at tonight’s headline Astoria set Brocks is a proper showman - indicated by his strawberry-liquorice striped suit, making him every bit the circus ringleader.
When Modest Mouse played London last, supporting Bright Eyes in June, it was before Good News… had been released, and they were clearly coming to terms with playing the new material live. While the older gems came across well, the new stuff sounded awkward and weak compared to its studio-recorded versions. But tonight they appear not as a four-piece, but as a six, seeing the return of Jeremiah Green to play alongside Weikel, and occasional collaborator Tom Peloso providing cello, keyboard and extra accompaniment. And this strength in numbers makes all the difference, giving the new material the strength and breadth it needs. “Float On”, “Black Cadillacs", “Bukowski”, “Ocean Breathes Salty” and “The World At Large" are just a few of the many highlights, all shining despite their highly varied sounds and arrangements. And a canny choice of older material (including "Paper Thin Walls”, “3rd Planet”, “A Wild Pack Of Family Dogs” and the foreboding centrepiece of “Cowboy Dan” spliced with “The Devil’s Workday”) give the band the chance to show they are still keen on raising a racket, and know their way around a riff or two.
Modest Mouse are as special a band as you can find, and tonight finds them on top form. It is hard to believe they have ever played so confidently, so well, or with such a strong set, before now. We just have to cross our fingers and hope they can keep it up. |
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| Tom Pegg |
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