I listen to the Chieftens

May 16, 2004 12:07 PM

So, why don't you like doing interviews? Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock takes the piss. [wmv]
posted by dobbs (19 comments total)

That was awesome. Thanks.
posted by kavasa at 1:16 PM on May 16, 2004

Eh.
posted by ColdChef at 3:24 PM on May 16, 2004

rape me. rape me, my friend. rape me. rape me, again.
posted by Satapher at 4:19 PM on May 16, 2004

I don't understand the current fascination with Modest Mouse. A friend once put a MM song on mix tape for me in, oh, I think it was maybe 1998 (The iTunes Music Store thinks the song I'm referring to is called Heart Toots Rain, but it's not.) That was my introduction. I've never been impressed with anything of theirs beginning with that song.
posted by emelenjr at 5:16 PM on May 16, 2004

GREAT STORY DUDE
posted by Satapher at 5:18 PM on May 16, 2004

I don't understand the current fascination with Modest Mouse.

The fascination has been there for years. Brock's songwriting, as exemplified on the new album, has become more focused and tight- a lot less meandering and less sloppy, and imo a lot less interesting as a result.
posted by crank at 6:12 PM on May 16, 2004

Heh, I finally got the link to work. That was rough viewing.
posted by crank at 6:16 PM on May 16, 2004

emelenjr, you're maybe thinking of Heart Cooks Brain, from Lonesome Crowded West. I think it's a great song from an amazing album. Different strokes...
posted by dobbs at 7:30 PM on May 16, 2004

I like Pepsi Blue way better than Modest Mouse.
posted by bshort at 8:06 PM on May 16, 2004

But does Pepsi Blue like you?

I picked up 'The Moon and Antartica' because a) I have friends that keep raving about Modest Mouse, and b) it has an amazing title. The thought was 'Hey, if this is two-thirds as good as it's title, it's gonna be awesome!' And, indeed, it is about two-thirds as good as the title.

Lonesome crowded West on the other hand I couldn't really get into...
posted by kaibutsu at 8:19 PM on May 16, 2004

I don't understand the current fascination with Modest Mouse.

I think the current fascination is that lots of people like their music. No band is going to enchant every single listener. MM is blossoming into full blown widespread success right now, and people who don't like them and never liked them are going to puff a few puffs of smoke about how this confounds them. I don't really understand actively detracting from others' acceptance and enjoyment of a band with naysaying, but I guess it stems from a feeling of being left out of a certain phenomenon, and the subsequent need to degrade it. Okay then.
posted by scarabic at 9:41 PM on May 16, 2004 [1 favorite]

I'm a big fan of MM, but honestly, I don't get it. Like, what's the background and purpose of this video?
posted by Mach3avelli at 10:11 PM on May 16, 2004

Brock has never liked doing interviews, probably because the press has loved to press the tough issues like the charges brought up against him of attempted murder (a kind of DUI charge) and rape (charges dropped). Aside from that, the band is pretty crazy in general-- the latest CMJ has an interesting article about how making the last album almost killed them.

Purpose of the video? Brock (or more likely Sony) capitalizing of initial commercial success of Good News and making a fun clip to plug the record.
posted by themadjuggler at 12:13 AM on May 17, 2004

Satapher, WTF?

dobbs, yeah, I know. I just thought the iTMS's mangling of the title was humorous.

MM fans, sorry, I know I'm apparently breaking the rules of MeFi by not liking something that someone else likes. A band making it big is always good news to me, but I just don't think this band is all that good. I hope MM fans are a little thicker-skinned than scarabic suggests, and the fact that I don't agree with them isn't really going to detract from their enjoyment. Much.
posted by emelenjr at 12:54 AM on May 17, 2004

current fascination?!?

all the cool kids know that modest mouse has been old hat for years.

buy a clue, jeez.
posted by Satapher at 2:20 AM on May 17, 2004

All the cool kinds liked Modest Mouse in 1998. Does it look like 1998 around here?

Is Built to Spill touring with Blink 182?
posted by VulcanMike at 6:55 AM on May 17, 2004

this is bad. *really* bad. it's maybe a funny joke for 5-10 seconds, but ... 5 minutes and 15 seconds?!?

here's an idea of a joke: "Why don't you like doing interviews? ... [silence] " rinse, repeat. maybe it's all "in" jokes, but it's not funny at all to me. as bad as the fighter pilot video? ... darn close.

if you watch the first minute and think, "it's gotta get better," it doesn't.

absolutely horrible. it may have ruined my day. i used to like modest mouse, and i was curious how the latest album stacked up.

on preview, if the band is that "crazy," you'd think that one of them would be funny in a bizarre kind of way. this is funny in a Jim Belushi kind of way.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:37 AM on May 17, 2004

I borrowed "Lonesome Crowded West" from a friend recently because he kept playing "Doin' the Cockroach" at practice. MM seems like an acquired taste, and sometimes their songs can be pretty schlocky, but when they're on, they don't really sound like anyone else (except maybe Make/Believe)
posted by drezdn at 11:23 AM on May 17, 2004

well, I liked it
posted by matteo at 5:18 AM on June 11, 2004