Modest Mouse influence on post-millennial indie-rock should not been taken lightly. Not only as stylistic authorities, but as a band that paved the way for other indie-rock bands to reach a level of commercial success that would’ve been unimaginable at the start of the last decade. I mean “indie-rock” here as a genre, not as rock music released through independent labels as Modest Mouse have belonged to Epic (Sony Music) ever since 2000’s The Moon & Antarctica, an astonishing album –deservedly hailed at the time as the best of rock album since Radiohead’s OK Computer – and one they’ve never been close topping.
Two decades into Modest Mouse’s career, it would be harsh to expect anything revolutionary. Their last album, 2007’s We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, saw them climbing to the number one spot on Billboard, but failed to produce any truly memorable music. That album blatantly tried to speak to both sides of their fan base – those who were around from the get-go, and those might’ve first heard them on SNL or being covered on American Idol – but ended up falling somewhere in-between. Obviously, the possibly (and credibility) for indie-rock bands to reach mainstream success is much greater today than in the mid-aughts, and as we get closer to Modest Mouse newly announced forthcoming album, it would make more sense for them to arrive at a sound closer to their last great record, 2004’s Grammy nominated Good News For People Who Love Bad News, then desperately try to refashion their pre-00 work, or worst of all, continue on the uninspired path of We Were Dead that in today’s relatively indie-inclined audience, likely would mean a definite artistic and commercial death. So far we’ve only been given one taste of what’s coming, but new and surprisingly great single “Lampshades On Fire” sound a lot like a synthesis of “Float On” and “The World At Large”, two of the most memorable tracks on Good News. And while Modest Mouse greatest (artistic) achievements will always be their pre-breakthrough records (two of them newly reissued via Glacial Pace), “Lampshades On Fire” is the best we’ve heard from the band in a decade. Watch for their new album Strangers To Ourselves, out March 3 via Epic.