After seven years of silence, Modest Mouse has finally released its latest offering, Strangers to Ourselves, but considering the disappointment that the release brought with it, perhaps continued silence would have been the better option. Despite the fact that the album is headlined by the superb “Lampshades on Fire” and a few other gems, Strangers is an underwhelming effort at best.
The album starts strong. It’s opening track “Strangers to Ourselves” has a smooth, Pink Floyd-esque synth style. It’s an introspective start, with lyrics like “How lucky we are, that we are, so easy to forget / How often we become susceptible to regret” providing the listener with a mellow beginning. “Strangers” leads into the more upbeat “Lampshades on Fire.” “Lampshades” was released as a single prior to the album’s release, and it provides a much more upbeat and catchy alternative to the more pensive “Strangers”.
Unfortunately, after this excellent start, the album’s quality deteriorates rapidly. “Shit in Your Cut” and “Pistol” are fun to listen to, due to some excellent drum beats, but don’t offer much beyond Mouse’s traditional combination of alternative rock and pop. The rest of the tracks follow a similar pattern: the songs blend in to each other far too easily, and sound like Mouse’s past work. This makes it seem like the band plays it too safe with their choice of song styles.
Fortunately enough, Strangers isn’t a total wash. Just because Mouse chooses to stick to the familiar doesn’t mean that the songs aren’t enjoyable. “Coyotes” and “Pups to Dust” are especially fun to listen to. Mouse doesn’t finish strong, however, with “Of Course You Know” serving as boring bookend to the album. Its vocal variation feels forced, as if Mouse is trying to be edgy. The result feels flat.
Mouse has clearly found a style that suits the band well. Unfortunately, committing to that style for an entire album makes “Strangers” feel too generic and stale. One can only hope that Mouse’s next album will be slightly more experimental and daring in its styles. “Strangers” is just too familiar.
Voice’s Choices: “Lampshades on Fire,” “Strangers to Ourselves”
Woah, woah, woah … I don’t mean this in a mean way but maybe you just don’t know Modest Mouse. Is it their greatest album ever? Probably not. But, to start, “Shit in You Cut” has an alternative rock guitar sound and pop baseline that Modest Mouse have never used before. Ever. An experienced Modest Mouse listener would’ve picked that up in the first three seconds because it was a total curveball. Same deal with “Pistol.” Again, “Ansel” adds a completely new instrument to their repertoire.
Do they sound like Modest Mouse? Yes, that’s why they are Modest Mouse. You can’t fault a band for sounding like their chosen sound. I agree in that I wish they had some more stylistic variety in their album as a whole [as in, I prefer their older sound (even “SWY”) to a constant pop montage], but this was made up by the second half of it, which sounds a lot more like their older sound (and which I liked a lot more than the first half of the album). Still, I would hardly say that “silence would have been a better option.” However, I won’t fault you for what was likely written in an effort to provide a strong lede and introduction. Try not to get your opinions caught up in the need to craft a strong review, you end up making generalizations and saying things you don’t mean. But I digress. …
Back to the same point, “Pups to Dust” has one of the most notable female background vocal contributions in Modest Mouse’s history since Nicole sang background to songs such as “Cowboy Dan” on tours for The Lonesome Crowded West in the ’90s. Can we take a moment to address how sexual some of their lyrics have are? That’s another huge and surprising change. I blame pop experimentalism.
Yes, it’s Modest Mouse’s sound, but on some level at it’s best–constantly evolving. They remain experimental to the end. In my personal grand list of their albums holistically best to worst this one circles the drain with Good News (I know people are going to come at me right here, but I really just hate pop, ok?), but that’s because I prefer their ’90s albums and it doesn’t mean they don’t have some great work here. They’re “selling out” to mainstream music, but they’re doing it their way. Modest Mouse may not always knock your socks off, but they keep progressing and experimenting, that’s who they are, and that’s exactly what they did here. They’re also considered a band who’s best songs take a while to fall in love with, and maybe that’s happening here, too, we will see.
One thing you didn’t catch was that “Be Brave” sounds uncannily like “March Into the Sea,” heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2SNEKHxG7c . Make of that what you will. Modest Mouse frequently ties their songs together with lyrics or riffs.
To your credit, do the lyrics have as much depth as they would’ve in Modest Mouse’s past work? Yes and no. But that’s the great divide between listeners who prefer the experimental sounds and altruistic lyrics of The Lonesome Crowded West and those who like the mainstream pop sounds and matching lyrical styles of Good News. I guess I agree with the overall negative review (at least in comparison to their other work), but it’s a lot more complicated than what you wrote here.
I personally love “Of Course you Know.” Modest Mouse tends to end with more obscure, less reachable, and calmer work. That’s their choice, make of it what you will. But if you noticed it’s similar to the beginning song, “Strangers to Ourselves,” so it is, quite literally, a bookend.
I’ve exhausted myself here already so I’m just going to add that your last paragraph only applies to the first half of the album, even though, as I’ve said, it still was experimental. And, when you look at other bands out there, I don’t know if Modest Mouse could ever be considered “generic and stale.”