Quick N' Dirty Reviews

Modest Mouse/ We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
When an indie band signs to a major label, the challenge is always to maintain as much of their sound as possible when using resources that are often thousands of times better than what they’d had access to on previous records. The lure of sanding down the rough edges that give the band their personality in the first place into a smooth, glossy sheen is sometimes too much for some groups to overcome. Luckily, Modest Mouse ignored these conventional temptations to produce the two best records of their career in The Moon And Antarctica and Good News For People Who Love Bad News. With their latest, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank (their third outing on Epic Records), Isaac Brock & Co. run their amazing winning streak to three for three on a major. We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank is also the first Modest Mouse record to feature legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as a member of the band, and what an addition he proves to be. Due to Brock’s status as one of the preeminent lyricists in rock, it’s quite a feat to say that the instrumentation on a Modest Mouse record outshines the lyrics but that’s exactly what happens here. That’s not to say that Brock is off his game at all – it’s just that Marr is so incredible and adds such a giant new element to the band that Brock’s words are eclipsed for maybe the first time ever. From the ascending break in “Fire It Up,” to the buoyant intro of “We’ve Got Everything,” to the gently beautiful work in “Little Motel” (the most gorgeous song the band has ever recorded), Marr’s fingerprints litter the entire record. The addition of Marr also helps the band to perfect the dance-rock fusion that began on 2004’s Good News For People Who Love Bad News this time around with “Invisible” and “Dashboard,” the most infectious single of Modest Mouse’s career. Lest anyone think that this is a full-on guitar rock album, the cantankerous Brock that Modest Mouse fans have come to know and love does take center stage on tracks like “March Into The Sea,” “Parting Of The Sensory,” and the appropriately titled “Spitting Venom.” Since the full-time addition of a guitar legend whose greatest success occurred in the mid-‘80’s isn’t usually one of the tricks that comes along with major label status, I say Isaac Brock… you are one magnificent bastard. By refusing to rest on convention and avoiding the easy road you’ve managed to put out one of the best records of your career.

Dirty Rating: 90/100

Modest Mouse On MySpace Music
Modest Mouse's Official Site


Field Music/ Tones Of Town
To paraphrase Spinal Tap member David St. Hubbins, “It’s such a fine line between homage, and rip-off,” and Field Music definitely tap dances with said line on their second release, Tones Of Town. As a nothing-spectacular indie band, Field Music apparently felt that they needed some sort of clever hook in order to grab people’s attention. This perhaps explains why they chose to play the role of a poor man’s XTC, thus enabling anyone with even a thimbleful of musical knowledge to recognize that they have borrowed heavily (read: stolen) from their British forbears. To their credit, however, in order to avoid being dismissed as a full-on tribute band Field Music throws in a dash of ‘70’s California pop (a la more talented countrymen The Magic Numbers) on “Give It Lose It Take It,” and a drop of early Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd on “Kingston,” but the majority of the album is XTC-by-numbers. “A House Is Not A Home,” “In Context,” and “Working To Work” all act as the bloody glove, as it were. Yes… I’m employing ten-year-old pop culture references, but since Field Music is stealing from a mid-‘80’s act I felt it only appropriate. Essentially, Field Music is the type of band that does some things well but doesn’t do anything great, especially when their quirkiness turns grating. These bands don’t have much of a shelf life and, by some accounts, Field Music will be splitting after fulfilling promotional engagements for Tones Of Town. This is probably for the best. Speaking as someone who’s not entirely sure if the world really needed the first XTC, I’m damn positive that we really didn’t need a half-baked, half-assed version as well.

Dirty Rating: 51/100

Field Music On MySpace Music
Field Music's Official Site


The Earlies/ The Enemy Chorus
You’ve probably never heard of The Earlies and, based on The Enemy Chorus, chances are you never will. The Enemy Chorus is a completely nondescript collection of electro-tinged indie rock that – I’ll be honest – I completely forgot about roughly ten seconds after I first listened to it. Nothing on the album is objectionable, but nothing is memorable either. Imagine The Beta Band stripped of everything that makes them interesting and you’ll basically have a reasonable facsimile of The Earlies. They do utilize some semi-intriguing beats at times, and the opening vocals on “Burn The Liars” kinda make you think of a stoned Neil Diamond, but that description sounds more remarkable than it actually is. There are numerous times throughout the course of its ponderous 50 minute running time that you wish that they’d just pull out something that would grab you by the throat, but they seem incapable of doing so. This inability to take charge makes it really difficult to imagine who could ever be interested in this band, other than people who like their music really bland and pale. If that’s what you’re looking for… frankly, what the hell’s wrong with you? Seriously – develop better taste. If that’s too much to ask, The Enemy Chorus might have been made just for you. God knows The Earlies can probably use any fan they can get.

Dirty Rating: 38/100

The Earlies On MySpace Music
The Earlies' Official Site