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No One's First, and You're Next

Modest Mouse - No One's First, and You're Next Audio CD

A fair review of the Modest Mouse "No One's First, and You're Next" 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: No One's First, and You're Next
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-08-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Satellite Skin 2: Guilty Cocker Spaniels 3: Autumn Beds 4: The Whale Song 5: Perpetual Motion Machine 6: History Sticks To Your Feet 7: King Rat 8: I've Got It All (Most)

First half great, second half not so great
Satellite Skin- 8/10
2. 1. Guilty Cocker Spaniels- 8/10
3. Autumn Beds- 8/10
4. The Whale Song- 9/10
5. Perpetual Motion Machine- 6/10
6. History Sticks to Your Feet- 6/10
7. King Rat- 6/10
8. I've Got it All- 6/10

No One's First, and You're Next is a collection of B-sides from "We Were Dead before the Ship even Sank" and "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" sessions. "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" was an amazing album. It was the perfect synthesis of the quirky Indie Rock and Pop Music. Unfortunately "We Were Dead before the Ship even Sank" was a disaster. The addition of Johnny Marr did not help the band despite his extremely impressive credentials. I don't know what the extent of his influence was on the band, but in my opinion it was a needless addition.

The album is interesting, because the first half of the album is easily better than the second half. The first 4 songs are all very good, with The Whale Song being the best. My assumption is that the first 3 songs were outtakes from "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" based on their sound. The fourth song, The Whale Song. . . It's tough to tell when that was written. It doesn't sound like it's from either album. The second half of the album sounds more like "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank", but it's possible that some of those songs could have come from "Good News for People Who Love Bad News". Either way it's quite a drop off from the first half of the album.

The song by song review gives the album a 71%, but the album feels lower than that. It's a compilation album, so there is no flow. It's suppose to be an EP, but it runs longer than 33 minutes, and the back end falls off so much that I can't help but rate it lower. I would rate the album at 67%.
.

Still Howling with Eloquent Ferocity
We are both troubled by constant, directionless motion, the avarice of consumers, the double standards that corrode our society. Isaac Brock and I have a lot in common. We're both geniuses in our own way (mhmm). And we're both aware of how laughable and futile each of our endeavors are.

My skepticism and uncertainty about the act of articulating my opinion on what a band does mirrors Brock and company's cynicism at participating as artists--or simply people--in a world that is so screwed up. But that is why this band continues to shine in their own dim and distorted light--they are masters of the participation/subversion dynamic. (Almost as good as I am at it. ) They are mega indie-rock stars, yet have been consistently uncompromising to any standards or expectations outside of their own weirdness. (I'm weird too. . . okay I'm done comparing. ) In truth, they've undergone their fare share of changes since This is a Long Drive, but their course has been true: No One's First and You're Next is a strong addition--albeit not exactly a brand new one, as some of the songs here date back to '05--to a canon that has lavishly displayed loathing and despair, whimsy and regret, and the occasional dash of hope in many brilliant corners.

Listening to Modest Mouse is something like the aural equivalent of watching Cirque du Soleil--a production that caters to a darkly refined aesthetic. The stuff is not for everyone, which makes me wonder why critics have never taken a sharper eye to the lispy screams and relentless cynicism, dismissing Brock and co. as bumbling, death-obsessed carnies. The reason this hasn't been done yet--and why it most likely won't be any time soon--is the power of Brock's imagery. A trademark of great lyricists is their ability to express inner turmoil in a way that reflects the grander mayhem existing in the outside world. Brock has always done this well by way of his panicked, feverish poetics. Yet Modest Mouse's work is distinctly elegant in that it strikes the perfect balance between feral shouting and delicate turns of phrase. In the past, we've seen this beauty distilled through the relatively carefree ("Float On") as well as the macabre ("This Devil's Workday/"Satan in a Coffin"). No One's First lands somewhere between the two, offering another sound work that--unlike the efforts of lesser artists, which fall short of crafting new and special critiques of our generation's paradoxes and malignancies--manages to strike at the heart while still remaining quintessentially Brockish: dark, ambiguous, and sad.

Despite the peppering of certain songs with such banal (for Brock) repetitions as "You know, you know, you know it all went wrong" or "We're in some trouble now," the band's gripping metaphors are for the most part still there. Compared with MM's previous two singles--the irresistible "Float On" and "Dashboard"--the opener "Satellite Skin" is forgettable. Crushed moth-wing feelings turned to powder is intriguing, but the music is regrettably straightforward, bordering on boring. It could be a single for any run-of-the-mill college rock band. And while there's nothing groundbreaking about hearing complaints registered with "run(ning) on treadmills in a perfect line" or "exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes", Brock gets deeper midway through ''Guilty Cocker Spaniels": "I drew a blank/we put it in a frame/Wait what you're winning, you didn't say this was a game/Well I guess I'll just have to play and play/Until I'm out of cash. . . " The sentiment of futility--feeling dragged around on a cosmically asinine game board--continues gorgeously into "Autumn Beds", which takes aim at the heartlessness of the legal system. When I hear Brock wail: "As sure as clocks all bleed in time, we'll show up early just to wait in line" followed by a perfectly utilized, flurrying banjo riff, the hair on my neck stands up every time.

Perpetual Motion Machine, rife with twisted marching horn blasts, has undeniable appeal. Despite tepid verses suggesting pages running out/races ending as indications of life's meaninglessness--again, I'm holding Brock to a higher standard-- "We all try harder as the days run out" serves well as an ironic, everyman chorus. Sandwiched by "History Sticks to Your Feet"--a curious yet unfulfilling track that ties chugging guitars to being at the movies and then, with little segue, talk of the sun's diary being kept in canary holes and warming the reader's skin (the sunnier side of Brock surfaces here)--and "I've Got it All (Most), the only throwaway of the album, the penultimate "King Rat" is a stunner. While aforementioned lines like "You know it all went wrong" are in part forgettable because of their delivery, here Brock's threatening howl--"What do you have to say for yourself?!"--is memorable for the same reason. (Check the Heath Ledger-directed video of this one for terrifying whales-hunting-humans fun. ) Brock is begging a question of supreme relevancy: In this day and age, who is willing to stand up and be accountable? By continuing to produce music with so much eloquent ferocity--and refusing to pander to anyone--they are. .

A new Modest to add to the books
While the band shifts their usual hard rock style to a more ambient, chill tune, the band delivers exactly what their fans expect of them: a thought-provoking compilation of songs approaching mysterious life topics, from relationships to death. Modest Mouse, a nearly two-decade old indie rock band highly criticized for their atheist lyrical themes, released their fifth album, No One's First and You're Next, on August 4, 2009.

Though initially biased in my innate love for the band and what they represent, I approached new Modest Mouse with an objective first listen, for I had not been in favor of the album's single, "Autumn Beds," which was previously released. "Autumn Beds" left me bored after a few listens, mostly because of the lack of lyrics and the song's hierarchy of need for the overpowering musicality. The rest of the album, however, was much more striking in terms of interest.

The album's title is the first thing that led me to think it was worthy of giving a listen. Though most bands' fans would love to listen to their favorites' new albums, No One's First and You're Next meant something deeper to me. Unaware of the band's intentions in this title, I believe it is used to represent all things in life that we initially fear, but we know we must do. Tasks without examples, without someone else going first and leading an example, are usually the most difficult, but also the most worthwhile and rewarding.

My favorite part of Modest Mouse's music, as with many bands, is the lyrics. This album is no exception. The band's singer and lyricist, Isaac Brock, leads an interesting interrogative imagery in songs such as "Guilty Cocker Spaniels" and "Satellite Skin. " "Do you even believe that there's a race to be won?" seems to nail the inner sense of competition that everyone strives to overcome but still embraces in their lives.

The album also exhibits reoccurring themes of Modest Mouse music, such as life being a game; "Wait, what? You're winning? You didn't say this was a game" is a key line in "Guilty Cocker Spaniels. "

The song "I've Got It All (Most)" struck an emotional tendon when I first listened to it. Having gone through an emotionally challenging breakup, the song comforted my weak spots of knowing that life isn't about having it all figured out. As Brock sang, "I've got it all most/I've got it all almost figured out/But always when I get there/Always when I get there all the pieces they just fall apart," I realized the importance of finding myself again, finding the fun in discovering who I am.

In terms of instrumental music in No One's First and You're Next, I enjoyed numerous guitar riffs and the use of the drums in the rhythmic pattern of the album. My favorite music song in the album was "The Whale Song. "

Altogether, I would strongly recommend this album to Modest Mouse fans of the past. Though there are a few slight changes in the way the music is presented, it's still wonderful quality for the band, and shows quite a bit of progression from their guitarist change in 2007.

And, naturally, the band has obviously recognized this change, best seen in the lyrics "I'm going to knock that look off your face like life don't hold you no more mystery. ".

Tasty Treat
This EP reminds me of past MM. I've liked everything this band has done. I appreciate their jamming side--"detuned guitar" and all. This is a band capable of laying a groove that would make a funk band proud. I have missed this part of the band. Please keep it up Issac.

Modest Mouse of past...pre-commercialization
There are several tracks which are remanent of previous Modest Mouse tracks before Good New for People Who Love Bad News and shift to more mainstream music. I really enjoy this EP. I stop short of calling them sell-outs because even for mainstream music they are pretty artistic and experimental. I still love them! The previous reviews which state the tracks are not good are clearly only sold on the NEW sound of Modest Mouse. I hear some rawness in some of the tracks like The Fruit That Ate Itself and The Lonesome Crowded West (the best ever).
It's sad when B-sides are better than the major commercial releases. Figures.
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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.