Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse tabs Modest Mouse discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Modest Mouse guitar tabs

CD reviews

This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About

Modest Mouse - This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About Audio CD

A fair review of the Modest Mouse "This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Modest Mouse reviews here, or go back to the Modest Mouse tabs.

Band: Modest Mouse
Title: This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About
Rating:

Release Date: 1996-04-09
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dramamine 2: Breakthrough 3: Custom Concern 4: Might 5: Lounge 6: Beach Side Property 7: She Ionizes & Atomizes 8: Head South 9: Dog Paddle 10: Novocain Stain 11: Tundra/Desert 12: Ohio 13: Exit Does Not Exist 14: Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset 15: Make Everyone Happy/Mechanical Birds 16: Space Travel Is Boring

5 stars isn't enough
I went through and made a CD of my favorites; again all from random albums and such. So I was introduced to Modest Mouse through random songs on my girlfriends computer that were all scattered from throughout their career. I listened to that CD for a while, and on a whim decided to buy this and Lonesome Crowded West after discovering I liked how their earlier stuff sounded. This album blows me away. I have since then bought everything these guys have made except their last two albums, and I attribute it to the genius of Long Drive. Lonesome is good too, but there's something about this album, and I can't quite put my finger on it. Funny thing is, though it's a great song, Dramamine is my least favorite. The last four or so songs just put me in this mood that can't be matched by anything. I love it, and I think you would too if you're in to indie, lo-fi prod, the Pixies, Slint, Pavement, etc.

This Is A Long Album For Someone With Better Things To Do
But based on this handful of listens, I can't say the album as a whole is anything to write home about. Well, first off I wanna say that I haven't given the album enough thorough listens for this review to really count, but I thought I'd do it anyway since I haven't reviewed any Modest Mouse albums yet. It's the band's first attempt, which gave them room to improve greatly (which they definately did do). It was no big deal either since it was their debut and at the time they were mostly unheard of. I do have to mention, however, that "Dramamine" is one of the greatest songs ever written by the band. This single track gives the listener hope that the band has more great music in store, but just haven't chosen this album to reveal it. Then again, another theory I have is that I've been spoiled by Modest Mouse's more recent music and I didn't get to enjoy this album when it first came out (come on, I was five years old. . . ).

it's not bad but...

I also get the feeling these guys were heavy fans of U2 seeing as how the guitar playing is quite similar to many early U2 songs with the evident moody guitar style throughout the album that U2 was doing in the 80's, a sound U2 probably invented, but if this stuff is honestly supposed to be more melodic and interesting than the classic years of U2, well, that just ain't true. Look, I realize how much Modest Mouse fans love their band, and that's all fine and good, but to me, and particularly the selections I've heard from this album, I get the feeling listening to the vocals that the emotions the lead singer is trying to convey are rather fake and an obvious attempt to be artsy while instead sounding more like something you might want to chuckle at.

The instrumental sections of the album are supposed to be rich and exciting, but instead they come across bland and uncreative to me. They SOUND better than they actually are. That's a sign the band is trying to cover up its flaws by making their music sound pretty without actually *being* pretty. Just not interesting enough.

Also, the lead singer has a very nerdy voice, and hearing any Modest Mouse song for a third or fourth time only reveals an album that becomes more annoying rather than exciting or thought-provoking, mainly because of the nerdy young college voice of the lead singer. As an adult, it's hard to take a voice like that seriously no matter what the lyrics are about.

Overall, I guess you have to be in your late teens early 20's to truly appreciate this kind of music, and after those years, this music just doesn't have the same appeal anymore.
.

You know what I'm never going to forget?
The way I thought the first song ("Dramamine") was unearthly beautiful. Though I don't remember the day or year, I'll always remember how I felt the first time this played through my speakers. . . then the way every song after that blended into each other and I wasn't sure WHAT the hell that noise was.

During song #2 I remember thinking, "Wow. . . this guy has a really distinct way of screaming through his nose. " By the time song #4 came on, I'd decided it was the dirtiest piece of music I'd ever listened to. Not dirty as in immoral, but dirty as in it literally felt like I was scrubbing my ears against a metal washboard. 70 minutes of "Long Drive" was too much at first. It was raw. Not just unpolished, but RAW - in a way I thought might crack the CD if I played it too fast.

My impression was how horrible it was. Yet I listened to it again. Then just once more. Then once more after that. Suddenly it didn't sound so dirty anymore, and I began questioning my judgement of it. If this is so bad, why am I liking it so much?

I was lucky enough to see Modest Mouse live in 2006 and they opened the show with "Dramamine" and I thought I might have been dreaming. Considering how bad I thought it was initially, this album has long since become one of the best things in my life. Lay on your back, turn the volume up, and watch how the whole world turns as navy blue as the album cover. I'd give this 10 out of 5.

for anyone who is alive
The first three tracks work together so well, with the looping meandering guitar riffs and the lyrics that sound like the life of every disenchanted teenager or young adult that's ever lived. This is, overall, my favorite Mouse album. As always with Mouse there are some tracks that get a little noisy or sound a little incomplete, but that's part of the charm. Brock doesn't write consistently perfect songs, but he writes so many perfect songs that it's almost a relief to realize that he's not flawless. Perhaps the most gifted lyricist in alternative rock, some of the wordplay is pure poetry.

You can see a complete list of all Modest Mouse discography, or go back to the Modest Mouse tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.