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Rating:
Modest Mouse have been one of the major alternative rock bands, which have garnered niche approval thanks to their unmistakable style, inspired by the Pixies and R.E.M. in the '80s and by Pavement in the '90s, yet remain very original, based on a deep-rooted sadness and melancholy that always intertwines with felt and insolent anger; all sometimes framed in a wonderful almost folk/country atmosphere. The band, led by singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, was formed in '93 and after writing several EPs, managed to release their first melancholic and beautiful album "This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About" (1996), which precedes by a year the aforementioned near-masterpiece "The Lonesome Crowded West", marking another milestone in the evolutionary process of American indie rock, which began with "Daydream Nation" by the Sonic Youth, and which continues to this day.
It is a vibrant, felt, visceral album that never tires throughout its length but strikes and moves. It is impossible to make divisions between verses and choruses in these tracks, as they are unpredictable and original pieces, with multiple changes of tone and rhythm: into this fits perfectly Brock's voice, a true strong point of the album, which recalls the fantastic Billy Corgan as it smoothly transitions from the softest melodies to the most challenging ones. Thus, you often move from fast-paced and hard tracks ("Convenient Parking"; "Shit Luck") to sweet, simple ballads ("Trailer Trash"; "Bankrupt on Selling") or even to mixed tracks ("Lounge"). In short, crazy pieces. The leading instrument is the bass, around which strange and distorted melodies but always moving, are intertwined with the guitar. Truly MOVING: despite the variety and complexity of the material, the final result is an emotional storm that cuts through you. It kicks off with the hard rock of the 7-minute "Teeth like God's Shoeshine", suddenly accelerating the pace, which is then immediately broken with the following ballad "Heart Cooks Brain": this will happen several times throughout the album. Experimental tracks like "Jesus Christ Was Only a Child" follow, and then the magnificent and explosive track #6 "Doin' the Cockroach" and the absolute masterpiece "Cowboy Dan": in this, after a melancholic start, pure anger and unrestrained hatred erupt like never before. Chills. Before the conclusion entrusted to the pure folk of "It's All Nice on Ice", it is worth noting the track "Trucker Atlas", a 10-minute track of intense emotional charge.
In conclusion, an album that everyone should own, being a '90s masterpiece in terms of complexity and emotion, comparable to pinnacles like "OK Computer" by the Radiohead or "Siamese Dream" by the Smashing Pumpkins.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Heart Cooks Brain (04:04)
Slow walk
It's a land mine
It's a coal mine
It's a bad thought
I'm on my way to god don't know
my brain's the burger and my heart's the coal
I'm trying to get my head clear
I push things out through my mouth i get refilled through my ears
I get refilled through my ears (x2)
I'm on my way to god don't know or don't care
My brain's the weak heart, and my heart's the long stairs
My heart's the long stairs (x2)
Inland from Vancouver shores
The ravens and the seagulls push each other inward and outward
Inward and outward
In this place that i call home
My brain's the cliff, and my heart's the bitter buffalo
My heart's the bitter buffalo
We tore one down, and erected another there
The match of the century: absence versus thin air
I'm on my way to god don't know
My brain's the burger and my heart's the coal
In this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go so slow
The days go so slow
The days gooooo slow
I'm on my way to god don't know
My brain's the burger and my heart's the coal
I'm just trying to get things clear
I push things out through my mouth and I get refilled through my ears
I get refilled through my ears
I get refilled...
I'm on my way to god don't know or even care
My brain's the weak heart and my heart's the long stairs
My heart's the long stairs (x2)
In the land from Vancouver Shore
The ravens and the seagulls push each other inward and outward
Inward and outward
In this place that I call home
My brain's a cliff and my heart's a bitter buffalo
My heart's a bitter buffalo
They tore one down and erected another there
The match of the century: absence versus thin air
Absence versus thin air
In this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go slow
The days go so slow.
03 Convenient Parking (04:10)
Soon the chain reaction started in the parking lot
Waiting to bleed on the big streets
That bleed out on the highways and
Off to others cities built to store and
sell these (plastic) rocks
Well aren't you feeling real dirty
Sitting in the parking lot (X2)
Waiting to bleed on the big streets
That bleed out on the highways and
Off to other cities built to make and
store these rocks
Well aren't you feeling real dirty
Sitting in your car with nothing
Waiting to bleed on the big streets
That bleed out on the highways and
Off to other cities built to store and sell
There's nothing
Convenient parking (is way back, way back)(X3)
07 Cowboy Dan (06:16)
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
And he's gonna start a war
He's gonna start a war
And he hops in his pickup, puts his pedal to the floor
And says, "I got mine, but I want more."
Because Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
And said, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die."
Because Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He didn't move to the city:
"The city moved to me,
And I want out desperately."
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Don't know
not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Standing in the tall grass
Thinking nothing
You know
We need oxygen to breathe
Oxygen to breathe
Standing in the tall grass
Thinking nothing
You know
We need oxygen to breathe
Oxygen to breathe
Everytime you think you're walking,
You're just moving the ground
Everytime you think you're talking,
You're just moving your mouth
Everytime you think you're looking,
You're just looking down
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He hops in his pickup, puts the pedal to the floor
And says, "I got mine, but I want more."
'Cause Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
And says, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die."
Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes the the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He didn't move to the city:
"The city moved to me,
And I want out desperately"
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
No, no
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Yeah
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
08 Trailer Trash (05:50)
Eating snow flakes with plastic forks
And a paper plate of course
You think of everything
Short love with a long divorce
And a couple of kids, of course
They don't mean anything
Live in trailers with no class
God damn, I hope I can pass
High school means nothing
Taking heartache with hard work
God damn, I am such a jerk
I can't do anything
And I shout that you're all fakes
And you should've seen the look on your face
And I guess that's what it takes
When comparing your belly aches
And it's been a long time
Which agrees with this watch of mine
And I know that I miss you
and I'm sorry if I dissed you
Eating snow flakes with plastic forks
And a paper plate of course
You think of everything
Short love with a long divorce
And a couple of kids, of course
They don't mean anything
Live in trailers with no class
God damn, I hope I can pass
High school means nothing
Taking heartache with hard work
God damn, I am such a jerk
I can't do anything
And I shout that you're all fakes
And you should've seen the look on your face
And I guess that's what it takes
When comparing your belly aches
And it's been a long time
Which agrees with this watch of mine
And I guess that I miss you
And I'm sorry if I dissed you
09 Out of Gas (02:33)
Out of gas
Out of road
Out of car
I don't know how I'm going to go and
I had a drink the other day
Opinions were like kittens
I was giving them away
I had a drink the other day
I had a lot to say
And I said:
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You will come down soon too
You will come down
You'll come down, come down
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You will come down soon too
Soon enough you will come down, come down
Out of gas
Out of road
Out of car
I don't know how I'm going to go and
I had a drink the other day
Opinions were like kittens
I was giving them away
I had a drink the other day
I had a lot to say
And I said:
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You will come down soon too
Soon enough you will come down, come down
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You'll come down, come down
You'll come down, come down
13 Polar Opposites (03:31)
Polar opposites don't push away
It's the same on the weekends as the rest of the days
And I know I should go but I'll probably stay
And that's all you can do about some things
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
Two one eyed dogs, they're looking at stereos
Hi-fi Gods try so hard to make their cars low to the ground
These vibrations oil its teeth
Primer gray is the color when you're done dying
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
14 Bankrupt on Selling (02:55)
Well all the apostles, they're sitting in swings
Saying I'd sell off my savior for a set of new rings
And some sandles with the style of straps
that cling best to the era
So all of the businessers in their unlimited Hell
Where they buy and they sell and they sell all their
Trash to each other, but they're sick of it all
And they're bankrupt on selling
And all of the angels
They'd sell off your soul for a set of new wings
And anything gold
They remember
The people they loved their old friends
And I've seen through'em all, seen through'em all
Seen through most everything
All the people you knew were the actors
All the people you knew were the actors
Well, I'll go to college and i'll learn some big words
And I'll talk real loud
Goddamn right I'll be heard
You'll remember the guy who said all those big words he Must've learned in college
And it took a long time
Til I came clean with myself
I come clean out of love with my lover
I still love her
Loved her more when she used to be sober and I was kinder
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Other reviews
By pinkholler
The true miracle of TLCW is that it keeps the listener glued to the speakers, feverish, for more than an hour of music.
This is an album with a strong personality that, of course, may not appeal to everyone, but certainly leaves no one indifferent.
