Modest Mouse
Interstate 8
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Modest Mouse
Interstate 8
Up, 1996
RiYL: Joan of Arc, Pavement, Built To Spill |
But since Springsteen's heyday, there have been few artists more interested in driving songs than Issaquah, WA indie-rock trio Modest Mouse. How appropriate is it then that Modest Mouse started off its career with Interstate 8, an EP of five songs (that ends up running 72 minutes long with an unlisted set of live performances.)
"I'm on a road shaped like a figure 8," guitarist Isaac Brock sings in the opening title track. "I'm going nowhere but I'm guaranteed to be late."
"Interstate 8" -- song and album alike -- isn't about a cheating girlfriend or getting it on in a nice Caddy. It's about frustration and resentment. Brock spits out his bitter venom with strong words (see above) on nearly every song. But he conveys his emotions a lot more clearly with his strained vocal delivery and abrasive guitar playing. Even when you can't tell what the hell he's talking about, you can tell he's ill at ease.
"Tundra/Desert" is the obvious example. The song, which also appears on the band's full-length debut, begins at a snail's pace before exploding into a collision of screaming vocals and squawking guitars with near-rave tempo. But even on the dreamy, slow "Sleepwalking," the narrator sounds equally disconsolate. It's hard to put your finger on the issue at hand, but you can tell something just isn't right.
If the EP's last and most enduring studio cut "Edit the Sad Parts" is any indication, Isaac is a guy with enough issues to keep us guessing for many, many years to come.
"Sometimes I really wanna feel in love," he sings. "Sometimes I'm angry that I feel so angry. Sometimes my feelings get in the way of what I really feel I needed to say."
This tune might make my top ten songs of the 1990s, and not just because of the Brock's lyrics or his vocal's emotional range. Bassist Eric Judy and drummer Jeremiah Green work with Brock to create a distillation of what would become the Modest Mouse sound. Intertwining lines of guitars with a whole lot of treble. Cool, simple chord changes. Natural drum playing. And one oddly endearing lead singer.
While the unlisted live tracks aren't really worth listening to more than once, you get the sense the band didn't think so either. Not only are the songs not listed, there's more than a few minutes silence between "Sad Parts" and the live material. If nothing else, they offer a record of the band's youthful intensity and fill up the last 30 minutes with something more interesting than dead air.
Assuming the listener is willing to just ignore its final half-hour, Interstate 8 is a fantastic introduction to one of the decade's most promising acts. Modest Mouse is one of the few bands around today who scream and bang and wear modern tags like Emo and punk but still have something in common with a rock forefather like Chuck Berry. And there's only one higher compliment I can offer:
The band's music, this album included, is amazing to listen to in the car.
Note: Interstate 8 is currently out of print. If you can't find it in the used bins, check out Building Nothing Out Of Something, a collection of singles and hard-to-find tracks, including these songs.
BEN FRENCH | Ben founded NATN in the winter of 1998-1999 with fellow IU alums Troy Carpenter and Jonathan Cohen. During the day time, he's working for Nielsen Business Media, publisher of Billboard. Ben's favorite acts include Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys.