Thursday, May 28, 1998
Here they come to sing today … Modest Mouse coming your
way
MUSIC: Disjointed set of hot indie guitar group does not
disappoint fans
By Brendon Vandergast
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Pacific Northwest trio Modest Mouse knows what a gasket is
… well, actually, they know just as much about car parts as most
of us – a blown gasket can’t be a good thing, right?
The lyrics to Modest Mouse’s song "Trucker’s Atlas" tells the
story: "I’m going up/ Going over to Montana/ You got yourself a
trucker’s atlas/ You knew you were all hot/ Maybe you’ll go and
blow a gasket."
Modest Mouse discovered the cause and effect of an overheated
engine the hard way – while on the road – and never showed up at
the Troubadour last year to open for Built to Spill. Lost time.
Time is money.
"This year we almost lost five grand and then we broke out our
front window, but everything else has been all right," says bassist
Eric Judy, pointing to the taped window on their big, red tour van.
Yet they were still running very late for their soundcheck at the
Hollywood Athletic Club on Thursday evening, where they headlined
with Califone, Strictly Ballroom and Caustic Resin. Nevertheless,
that’s much better than not making it at all.
This is just another typical road trip story from guitarist and
singer Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and Judy – all of whom
have driven through the smallest towns on the fringes of state
borders, digested all its characters, colors and contrasts, and
transcribed it into one of the best albums of 1997, "The Lonesome
Crowded West" (Up Records).
This second full-length album spins in and out of lounge bars,
truck stops and mini-malls with the indie styling and punk
aesthetic most comparable to such greats as the Pixies and
Pavement. It is a skewered insight to the environs and inhabitants
of the great American mainstream. It plays as if the listener is
forced to sit "bitch" style in the back of the band’s very own tour
van for a 72-minute journey, living by a working man’s credo: God
doesn’t always give you the best seat, just be happy you’re along
for the ride.
All metaphors aside, Modest Mouse is a refreshing, new hope for
the starving indie-guitar rock era that has recently witnessed the
demise of the alternative nation. After only two LP’s and critical
buzz from SPIN and Rolling Stone magazines, they found themselves
headlining and handily packing the large venue on Sunset Boulevard
with plenty of L.A. scenesters and indie kids.
Concerning the expectations following a credible showing on
Spin’s "Top 40 Artists Contenders," Judy seems fittingly modest.
"Well, yeah, I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to see how
everything goes."
On record, Modest Mouse crafts discordant guitars and
not-so-pretty vocals into a unique and inventive jam beautifully
unforced. "Yeah, sometimes we just find a rhythm and someone will
add a part to it," Judy says. "Our songs are continually getting
longer and longer. Tonight, though, we’ll play whatever we feel
like, long or short."
Indeed, Modest Mouse’s live set Thursday night lacked structure,
or sobriety for that matter, partly because many of their songs
bear alcoholic infatuations (sample chorus: "I’m trying to drink
away/ The part of the day/ That I cannot sleep away") and partly
because they had four hours to spare between their soundcheck and
when the actually went on stage to play.
Though sloppy and fractured, Modest Mouse kept the crowd going.
Every song intro had the crowd shaking their heads agreeably, with
several inebriated fellows rocking and rollicking over to the bar
throughout the night.
They played most of their songs from their latest album, such as
"Doin’ the Cockroach," "Cowboy Dan" and "Lounge (Closing Time),"
which showcased amply extended intros or outros. They played little
of their older material.
"We forgot most of them," Judy says. "We can only do like three
or four songs."
But they pounded away the best they could until Brock broke the
strings on both of his guitars on "Dramamine," giving up soon
after.
It may sound as if Modest Mouse has the overplayed, half-assed
indie-rock attitude down during their live performance. But what
makes them one of the most intriguing post-punk outfits of today is
not their imperfection but their musical rawness and lyrical
imagination, something lacking in rock music today.
"This is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing to Think About,"
says the title of their first LP. Undoubtedly, they’ve got plenty
of thoughts brewing inside that red van of theirs. And by now,
they’re fit and ready for the honest long haul, even if they’re
looking out of a taped up, broken window.