Modest Mouse are a wonderfully wonky band. I’ve always likened them to an untamed animal. But musically, they are more akin to a bag full of instruments; turn them upside down and shake them just a little, and the whole mess will crash to the floor. This is the dynamic that makes them so engaging, and is why I’ve kept listening over the years. It’s also why adding a new member is a tricky situation.
When I first met frontman Isaac Brock in the summer of 2005, he told me that former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr would be flying to Portland that August to help him write the follow-up to Good News for People Who Love Bad News, widely considered the band’s "breakthrough" because it contained two pop hits, "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty." I winced, admittedly with awe, at the fact that Brock would be willing to pair up with the Manchester native in such a way. As a true artist‚ (one who is wickedly charming and always a little distracted by his own head‚) Brock struck me as the type who had to hole up, search deep inside himself, and emerge with the icy nugget that is a Modest Mouse song. How would an ’80s guitar icon be able to help with that?
Turns out, Marr is the perfect foil for the direction Brock needed to take the band. The result, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, is the group’s tightest and most consistent record. Marr’s guitar is the star here, pushed front and center in the mix as it is. But Brock is still the punchy little shit he always was‚ (the kind of vocalist it’s impossible not to form an opinion of‚) and all the familiar Mouse elements abound: rubber-band guitars, funky bass, and cracked-out drumming. The album gets a running start with classic Mouse ranting and raving on "Invisible," followed up by the immediately catchy "People as Places as People." Those who barked loudest when they heard "Float On" played during the Rose Bowl will cringe at about one-fourth of the album, given how radio-ready the songs are. But drop your judgments, and this album will pay off in spades. It’s still as cold, dark, and weird as anything the band’s created, especially on "Parting of the Sensory" and "Steam Engenius." We’ll no doubt be mulling over lyrics such as "While we’re on the subject/Can we change the subject now?" and there’s no question that with "Little Motels," Brock has written the most unflinchingly romantic and affectionate song of his career. As with every Modest Mouse record, it will probably take a couple of years for the whole album to sink in. You can’t ask for much more in a work of art.
From The Seattle Weekly review by BRIAN J. BARR