Music Video :: "King Rat" by Modest Mouse

Much like Elvis or 2-Pac, Heath Ledger seems to be getting just as much play post-mortem as he did in life, this time as the director of Modest Mouse's new video for their track "King Rat" off their EP "No One's First, and You're Next," released last week.

The video itself is... well. Hey, give it a spin for yourself. I suppose it's about time rock music took a hard stance against whaling. Someone call up Bono, we'll need an all-star benefit.

SONY ATE IT! ...re-post coming asap.

Music Review :: Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

Artist :: Arctic Monkeys
Album :: Humbug
Release :: 2009
Label :: Domino
Genre :: Indie Rock, Post-Punk Revival

To impressionable American youth, if Oasis made Manchester seem like party central in the early 1990’s, then Arctic Monkeys have done fine work in painting Sheffield, England as the boiling mouth of hell from which there’s no return.

On their third full-length, Humbug, Alex Turner and company make the dark and seedy stories on 2006’s Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not sound like fresh-faced optimism and wacky teenage hijinks with Turner now deeply submersed into the world that he and his friends used to point and laugh at from their high-tops at the bar.

The most notable difference from their debut is that the overall tone of the songs has changed dramatically. A change that was foreshadowed by their sophomore effort Favourite Worst Nightmare in which the more sinister chord progressions and creepy reverb became present, but still took a backseat to the furiously fast guitars and Turner's never-ending verbal assault. This time around Turner and company ease off the throttle enough to let that creepiness come through with great success.

There are no "Brainstorm"s or "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor"s this time around, just slow-paced strut and tangled webs. The lead single, "Crying Lighting," is the closest the band get to the furious energy from what seems like forever ago. But where the drunken teenage anthems have become a thing of the past, Turner has developed into more of a songwriter with a far more poetic tongue as opposed to a one-trick-pony who's only musical device is telling a sixty page story in three minutes thirty seconds.

Among the albums strongest moments are the lead two tracks. "My Propeller" which opens the affair as not only the records best track but also a musical mission statement for what's about to come. Slow burning and swaggering as it builds towards the songs instantly memorable final thirty seconds, where it explodes into the atmosphere as Turner pleads "my propeller won't spin..."

"Crying Lightening" carries on in the bands fine tradition of seedy stories about sketchy people, only with seemingly a more personal twist.

Humbug is another excellent entry into the Arctic's catalog that showcases a tremendous amount of growth and poise. For anyone wondering what the Arctic Monkeys would sound like grown up, this is your first glips. Still, though, with this new turn in direction, there's something to be said for that frenetic energy from the first two records. Spastic barroom tales and clever lines put on the shelf it seems everything in music must change or it'll eventually die. It's good to see the Alex Turner and company have chosen the former. 3.5 / 5

Music Review :: Modest Mouse - No One's First, and You're Next

Artist :: Modest Mouse
Album :: No One's First, and You're Next (EP)
Release :: 2009
Label :: Epic Records
Genre :: Indie Rock

I probably have more fond memories of Modest Mouse dating to when they were half the band they are today. Long before they were unlikely hit-makers, they were a weird vacation destination somewhere inbetween pervy post-grunge and the wontobulous world of Dr. Seuss, and a decade ago I was listening to "Never Ending Math Equation" in my car for the first time wondering what the hell was going on. What was this dude who's voice sounded like an off-key trumpet going on about, exactly? From there it was midnight shows, glorious weirdness, and that moment in 2004 when we all were left scratching our heads when "Float On" became an instant radio classic.

Being a permanent member of the thrift store Gestapo, I've seen a lot of bands be pronounced dead by the underground after a dramatic shift in what they were doing in favor of commercial success, but, with Modest Mouse it was different. With Modest Mouse, I think none of us really understand it. Isaac Brock is truly one of the least loveable front-men to ever live and America doesn't usually go in for chubby weirdos as hit musicians anymore. Like Guided By Voices before them, it seemed kinda obvious that Modest Mouse was going to be one of "our" bands forever.

Still, shit does happen, and after the assumed fluke that was "Float On" we saw "Dashboard" become another chart topper and the addition of Johnny Marr into the Mouse line-up (who post-Smiths had resigned himself to making crappy Oasis knock-off arena rock.) But hey, it couldn't have happened to a more creative group of total dickheads.

Quickly closing in on twenty years of THE MOUSE, the guys have slapped together a mess of songs that weren't good enough to be b-sides to anything on their last two major releases for their new kinda-compilation EP No One's First, and You're Next, and, from that description, you might have a guess as to how it sounds.

There's very little that matches up together here. From some very classic Modest Mouse-sounding guitar noodling in fits and starts of shouting through reverbed murkiness ("The Whale Song") to the gimmicky apocalyptic ragtime jazz that started to surface from time to time on We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank ("Perpetual Motion Machine.") The EP almost serves as a career retrospective that's told through unreleased material.

Coming in at 34 minutes long and about a track short of qualifying as a proper album, No One's is probably better suited for devout fans than casual Modest Mouse listeners. It'd be easy to say "There's probably a reason this stuff never got released!" ...but in truth it's just a nice little collection of extras. Nothing more. Nothing less. 3/5