MODEST MOUSE

' Modest Mouse' is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, bassist Eric Judy, and guitarist Dann Gallucci.^[1] Since their 1996 debut album, ''This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About'', their lineup has centered around Brock, Green and Judy. Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr joined the band in May 2006, to work on the album ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''. Since being signed to Sony's Epic Records in 2000, the band has attained significant popular success. Elements of Modest Mouse's sound have been likened to or inspired by that of Pixies, Built to Spill, and numerous other alternative rock bands. Their name derives from a passage from the Virginia Woolf story "The Mark on the Wall" which reads "...and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people..."

Contents

History

''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''

Other members

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

History

In 1994, Brock, Green, John Wickhart, and Dann Gallucci recorded their debut EP, ''Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect?'', at Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Studios, which was then released on K Records. Then followed a single with Sub Pop that was recorded by Steve Wold (now better known as bluesman Seasick Steve) at Moon Studios. During this time, Modest Mouse also recorded their would-be debut album ''Sad Sappy Sucker'', but constant delays caused the album to be shelved and forgotten (it was officially released in 2001). After moving to Up Records, losing bassist John Wickhart, temporarily losing guitarist Dann Gallucci, and gaining bassist Eric Judy^[1], Modest Mouse put out several releases recorded at Moon Studios, including 1996's ''This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About''. This double LP was produced and recorded by Steve Wold (at this time Wold was a member of the band as well). The next offering was ''Interstate 8'', also produced by Wold. 1997's ''The Lonesome Crowded West'', (also recorded at Moon Studios, by Scott Swayze) turned out to be the band's breakthrough album. ''The Lonesome Crowded West'' gained the band a cult following, and is now widely considered to be one of the defining albums of mid-90s indie rock. In 2000, Up Records released a singles and rarities collection entitled ''Building Nothing Out of Something'', which included the entirety of ''Interstate 8'' except for the songs "Edit the Sad Parts" and "Buttons to Push Buttons".
That year, Modest Mouse released ''The Moon & Antarctica'', their first album on Epic Records. The band enjoyed some success on alternative radio with the singles "3rd Planet" and "Gravity Rides Everything." It was critically well-received^[3]including a 9.8 out of 10 by the online music review magazine ''Pitchfork Media''. It has subsequently gone on to receive further acclaim^[4]. Brock has since put out an album with his side project Ugly Casanova on Sub Pop Records. The band licensed "Gravity Rides Everything" for a commercial for Nissan's Quest minivan, a move that Brock has publicly acknowledged as blatantly commercial but necessary to achieve financial stability^[5].
In 2001, Modest Mouse released the EP ''Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks'', a collection of unused songs from the ''The Moon and Antarctica'' recording sessions, as well as releasing ''Sad Sappy Sucker'', a collection of songs Modest Mouse recorded in 1994, originally intended to be their debut album, but shelved in favor of ''This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About''. In 2002, they joined Cake, De La Soul, The Flaming Lips, The Hackensaw Boys, and Kinky on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour.
In 2003, Green quit the band after suffering a nervous breakdown; the official word was that he was quitting to work with his side project, Vells. The same year, he and bassist Eric Judy appeared on Adam Forkner's debut solo album, ''VVRSSNN''. Green was replaced with two new members, drummer Benjamin Weikel (who also drummed for The Helio Sequence, as well as playing keyboard) and guitarist Dann Gallucci (who had been a member of Modest Mouse previously, and appears on ''Sad Sappy Sucker''). On April 6, 2004, Modest Mouse released their fourth album, the platinum-selling ''Good News for People Who Love Bad News'', which scored two hits with "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty" (both of which they performed on ''Saturday Night Live'' on November 13, 2004^[6]). Later that year, Green returned to the band, and Weikel returned to drumming exclusively for The Helio Sequence. Gallucci left the band in August, and they have been touring with Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy and All Smiles.
Modest Mouse was mentioned by name in the 2005 Supreme Court decision in the case of ''MGM v. Grokster''. Justice David Souter wrote that on the Grokster P2P network, "Users seeking Top 40 songs, for example, or the latest release by Modest Mouse, are certain to be far more numerous than those seeking a free Decameron, and Grokster and StreamCast translated that demand into dollars."

''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''

Main articles: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

The band had planned and began to play a string of shows on the West Coast of the United States in August 2006, but an update on Epic Records' Modest Mouse website stated that the shows would be postponed due to the band working on recording their new album, entitled ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''. The new album was recorded in Oxford, Mississippi, and was produced by Dennis Herring, who also produced ''Good News for People Who Love Bad News''.
By June 26, 2006, the band had finished recording at Sweet Tea Recording Studio with producer Dennis Herring, and returned to Portland, Oregon to finish overdubs and mixing. Johnny Marr is now a confirmed member of the band, co-writing songs for the new album with Brock.
^[7] According to Brock himself, Marr is now "a full blown member of the band,"^[8] and he has toured with them to promote We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Brock describes the album as a "nautical balalaika carnival romp." ^[9] Blender Magazine named Modest Mouse "the 25^th reason to love 2007" because of their up-and-coming fifth album.^[10]
The album's first single, "Dashboard", was played on 107.7 The End, a radio station in Seattle, at midnight on New Years Day 2007. On January 8, 2007, it began playing on other radio stations as well. The music video for "Dashboard," was directed by Mathew Cullen and Grady Hall of Motion Theory. The band began streaming the single on their MySpace page on January 3, 2007. On March 17 they began streaming the entire album for a limited time.
The second single is set to be "Missed the Boat", with the video being directed by Christopher Mills (who also directed the Float On video).^[11]
The album, which was originally planned to be released on December 19, 2006, was postponed and released on March 20, 2007.^[12] It debuted at #1 in the Billboard 100 and stayed there for a few weeks^[13] with sales in excess of 130,000.
Brock recently stated that he would like to release the album's unreleased songs on an EP. Eric Judy said he would like to release the unreleased songs from 2004's ''Good News For People Who Love Bad News'' as well.^[14]

Other members

★ Dann Gallucci (he has left and rejoined the band on several occasions, but is currently not a member) – guitar, keyboards, vocals, percussion, synthesizers – ''See also:'' Murder City Devils, Triumph of Lethargy, A Gun Called Tension

★ Benjamin Weikel (former member) – drums, percussion

★ Steve Wold (former member and producer) – slide guitar, mandolin, guitar

★ Jeff Kennedy (former member) – violin, banjo

★ Nicole Johnson (former occasional accompaniment) – vocals on ''Building Nothing Out of Something'', ''This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About'', ''The Lonesome Crowded West''

★ John Wickhart (former member) – bass guitar on ''Sad Sappy Sucker''

Discography

Studio albums

★ ''This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About'' (1996)

★ ''The Lonesome Crowded West'' (1997)

★ ''The Moon & Antarctica'' (2000)

★ ''Good News for People Who Love Bad News'' (2004)

★ ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank'' (2007)

References

1. http://www.epitonic.com/index.jsp?refer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epitonic.com%2Fartists%2Fmodestmouse.html
2. http://www.epitonic.com/index.jsp?refer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epitonic.com%2Fartists%2Fmodestmouse.html
3. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/modestmouse/moonandantarctica
4. http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.16477
5. http://avclub.com/content/node/23015
6. SNL Archives - Episode. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
7. Modest Mouse Working With The Smiths' Johnny Marr
8. http://www.nme.com/news/johnny-marr/23826
9. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/08/03/jeff/
10. "http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=2388&src=blender_ed"
11. Video Static: Music Video News: April 8, 2007 - April 14, 2007
12. http://www.silentuproar.com/news/individual.php?newsid=9993&back=yes
13. Former Smiths' guitar player reaches number 1 in this weeks American Billboard Chart
14. http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=395773

External links

★ Official Modest Mouse website

★ Epic Records' Modest Mouse site

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★ Early Modest Mouse demos

★ Interstate-8.com : A Modest Mouse fan collaborative

★ Onion A.V. Club interview with Isaac Brock

★ Filter Magazine interview with Isaac Brock

★ Modest Mouse "Untitled" documentary