Every so often Modest Mouse clean house and sweep another bunch of outtakes and B-sides out in to the public arena. Some critics have trashed this trend, branding it a stop-gap serving only to plug the hole between albums. Well viva la stop gap!
‘No One’s First and You’re Next
This is Isaac Brock and crew just doing what the hell they want and doing it with an edge and style lesser bands would beg to capture on any session, EP or LP.
Satellite Skin eases the listener in with finger drumming, scratchy geetar and Brock spitting attitude, pulling butterfly knives from the ceiling whilst the rest of the mouse roll confidently along.
If the vocals weren’t crazed enough in the opener then Guilty Cocker Spaniels up’s the pyschosis, a neat mix of bayou tinged rap, thunder rolling bass and a smidgeon of what I think was a ukelele to soothe.
We emerge from the madness into the EP’s slowest and probably my favourite track… Autumn Beds conjures up an image of Richard Farnsworth in David Lynch’ Straight Story chugging along those back roads on his John Deere lawn tractor. The chorus may be a touch repetitive but I never tired. The banjo fits this song like a glove, creating a spookily autumnal feel.
Next up The Whale Song; an instrumental number in the most, which sounds pretty much like the title suggests. Isaac and Johnny providing the whale song with screeching guitar as the bands wall of sound spirals and soars into a majestical crescendo which is trully a treat to the ears that I could revel in for hours on end.
The Mouse’ creative juices don’t sap… Perpetual Motion Machine is the most imaginative ditty of the eight. A Dixieland fused oddity with hornplay that backs up Brock’s storytelling with a prowess that harkens me back to The Small Faces classic Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake
So where’s the filler? If anywhere it comes in the form of History Sticks To Your Feet. The songs most interesting feature being Jeremiah Green’s skillful drumming. The vocals oddly remind me of Lloyd Cole’s ‘Forest Fire‘, a track I haven’t heard in a long while.
King Rat ushers the band back to form with a fabulous intro, musically richened by banjo, a quick jerk of bass, and an elephantile blast of horn before Brock swaggers nonchalantly into the swamp to get fed like a fish full of smiles.
King Rat definitely wouldn’t of been out of place on the last album, and if the EP had ended here I would’ve been more than satisfied. The funky guitar riffs of I’ve Got It All (Most) fail to move me at all. It’s far too middle of the road compared to what’s already been served.
If there’s truth in the old saying “Variety is the spice of life” then Modest Mouse are the musical equivalent of Chicken Vindaloo. No One’s First And You’re Next is brimming with color and variety. I just can’t get enough of it.
I leave you with the video for King Rat, directed by the late Heath Ledger no less.
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Comments ( 1 Comment )
Can’t get enough of it either! Whenever you hear an EP like this you are instantly reminded of the difference in quality between a lot of younger bands and stalwarts like this.
Good to hear you had a good London weekend as well.
Stef added these pithy words on
Aug 26 09 at
11:14 am
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