Modest Mouse "The Moon & Antarctica" -Today's Hot Playlist Pick

June 13, 2000, marked the major label debut for Washington idie-heroes, Modest Mouse, with their album, The Moon and Antarctica.  This fan favorite reminds us that musically, all was not lost back at the turn of the century when boy and girl pop bands ruled the world.  Drawing comparisons to legendary alt-rockers Radiohead, for some of their trancelike tones and effects, this album was Modest Mouse not just getting their foot into the industry door, it was them kicking the proverbial door down! 

Obviously a lot has changed for the band since the the multi platinum success of 2004’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News, but gazing back to the past, we could always see frontman Isaac Brock as a wonderful pessimist at heart.  On ‘The Moon and Antarctica’, he sings of days and lives which are rapidly slipping away, in the midst of a world where the tabloid/media frenzy was just beginning to boil over.  Long before Al Gore’s, ‘Inconvenient Truth’ warned us of the planets’ growing frustration with us, Brock and his crew wrote this sonically epic album filled with bittersweet imagery, and the words of a man who simply doesn’t care what people think about him or his thoughts. 

While fans can no doubt draw similarities to this album and 2004’s multi platinum, ‘Good News for People Who Love Bad News’, ‘Antarctica’ is an album that can be seen as the storm that preceded ‘Good News’ calm inducing sound.  On the Radiohead-ish, ‘The Stars are Projectors’, the music creates a psychedelic groove, while Brock speaks about balance, and paints a human existence that mirrors the silver-screen.  With lyrics like, “Everyone wants a double feature, and they wanna be they’re own damn teacher”, Brock draws attention to that often desired, “fifteen minutes of fame” we all crave so badly.

Modest Mouse is at their best when they are having fun, and the highlight of this mood comes on the third track, ‘Dark Center of the Universe’.  From the slow rumbling beginning, the hairs on your arms begin to stir, before the crashing and jumpy chorus has you outright dancing and jumping around.  “Well it took a lot of work to be the ass that I am, and i’m real damn sure that anyone can easily fuck you over.”  Harsh words maybe, but it’s Brock’s unique singing style - a blend of cracked melody and yelping - that drive the song home.  Another great track is ‘A Different City’, which touches on similar themes, but the music has a bit of a ‘Cure’ meets the ‘Police’ tone to it.  To some, Brock’s lyrics may come across as selfish and uncaring, but without Brock’s self-driven /loner attitude, this band might never have achieved the massive success they deserve. 

Posted by Jason Baum