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Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, Washington by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. 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. Guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths) joined the band in May 2006, along with percussionist Joe Plummer (formerly of the Black Heart Procession) and multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso, to work on the album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.
The band has attained significant mainstream success since being signed to Sony's Epic Records in 2001 and have been one of the leading bands in the commercialization of indie rock, beginning with their album Good News for People Who Love Bad News in 2004.
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Quotations
And it's hard to be a human being, And it's harder as anything else. And I'm lonesome when you're around. And I'm never lonesome when I'm by myself.
Changed my mind so much I can't even trust itMy mind changed me so much I can't even trust myself.
He don't remember. How it got there. It had a number Written on his forearm. It spelled disaster.
Here's the soon to be anchor.Build bridges to nothing;you'll get nowhere.
I don't know, but I've been told; You'll never die and you'll never grow old.
I'd hate to see anybody thank you But I'd like to see you fail saying thank you, though.
Encyclopedia
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, Washington by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. 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. Guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths) joined the band in May 2006, along with percussionist Joe Plummer (formerly of the Black Heart Procession) and multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso, to work on the album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.
The band has attained significant mainstream success since being signed to Sony's Epic Records in 2001 and have been one of the leading bands in the commercialization of indie rock, beginning with their album Good News for People Who Love Bad News in 2004. Elements of Modest Mouse's early sound have been likened to or inspired by that of Pixies and numerous other alternative rock and space rock bands. Their name is derived from a passage from the Virginia Woolf story "The Mark on the Wall" which reads "I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises."
History
Early days on Up Records
In 1994, Brock, Green, John Wickhart and Eric Judy recorded their debut EP, Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect?, at Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Studios. It was released under K Records. John Wickhart played bass guitar on the EP. Then followed a single, "Broke", under 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, 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 album was produced and recorded by Steve Wold (at this time Wold was assisting in the recordings as well, but was not officially a part of the band). 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 serve as 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-1990s indie rock. Prior to the release, the band had recorded the EP The Fruit That Ate Itself. In 1999, 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 the Buttons".
The Moon & Antarctica and Epic signing
In 2000, Modest Mouse released The Moon & Antarctica, their first album on Epic Records. The album was more instrumental compared to their previous work, and this was partially due to Brock breaking his jaw during recording. Not knowing if he would be able to sing, he focused on making a more instrumental and experimental album. The band enjoyed some success on alternative radio with the singles "3rd Planet" and "Gravity Rides Everything." It was critically well-received including a 9.8 out of 10 score from popular online music magazine, Pitchfork Media. It has subsequently gone on to receive further acclaim. Brock has since released an album with his side project Ugly Casanova on Sub Pop. 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.
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.
Mainstream success with Good News for People Who Love Bad News
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). The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Rock Album that year. Later that year, Green returned to the band, and Weikel returned to drumming exclusively for The Helio Sequence. Gallucci left the band in August. In 2004 the band also curated an edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival.
The song Float On was featured in the 2008 games Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2.
Modest Mouse was mentioned by name in the 2005 U.S. 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
In 2006, Johnny Marr, the former guitarist for The Smiths, joined Modest Mouse, replacing Dann Gallucci, to begin work on the next Modest Mouse album. The album, entitled We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank was released on March 20, 2007 after being delayed from December 19, 2006. The album was successful in being the first Modest Mouse album to reach number 1 on the US Billboard 200 charts, and spawned the hit single "Dashboard", as well as "Missed the Boat" and "We've Got Everything".
In issue 1045 of Rolling Stone magazine, Austin Scaggs called Isaac to discuss future plans. Isaac reports that his biggest priority is to finish a Modest Mouse EP; referring, of course, to the songs that did not make it onto Good News and We Were Dead. He says there are songs named "The Whale Song" and "Satellite Skin" as well as another song with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
Isaac Brock says he will begin writing music for their next album during March. An update on the band's blog featured a picture of the band rehearsing . The band had a tour with R.E.M. and The National in 2008 which ended in Atlanta.
The band had begun a North American tour beginning in June 2008. The band returns to Florida for the first time since their November 2006 Bang Music Festival show where they were cut off stage early, with three shows in Miami, Orlando, and St. Augustine. While an update on the Modest Mouse blog subtitled catching up on some words for the next tour, it is in fact the lyrics to Heart Cooks Brain. Modest Mouse recently finished their tour supporting We Were Dead after 2 years of promoting the record.
On Nov. 27 and 28, Isaac Brock friends Broken Social Scene on the last nights of Broken Social Scene's North American tour at the Sound Academy in Toronto. Brock played "Paper Thin Walls," from The Moon & Antarctica, as well as "The World at Large," and "The Good Times are Killing Me" from Good News for People Who Love Bad News.
The band recently embarked on another nationwide tour, now without Johnny Marr.
Discography
External links
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