Thankfully, Lupe Fiasco’s “The Show Goes On,” isn’t the last we hear from Modest Mouse. After an 8 year, and what seemed like definite, hiatus, Modest Mouse return with Strangers to Ourselves. The real question I guess though is, “do we need more Modest Mouse?”
When I think of Modest Mouse I think of the past, like, The Moon & Antarctica, which to be fair didn’t come out that long ago, just 15 years, but still, awhile ago. Modest Mouse is the kind of band I associate with “shelf life,” the concept that while some albums are great, the truly great ones are the ones that stand the test of time and remain on your shelf. They’re that kind of band. Not in the way of praising their albums as the greatest albums ever made kind of shelf life, just as a, “they made good albums and I have them on my shelf,” kind of shelf life.
The one thing about the new Modest Mouse album is that they didn’t do anything different. It wasn’t like they came back and were like, “oh yeah we’re gonna make disco music now,” or something more realistically like, “we got a cellist”, or “our new synth player is doing some crazy new stuff.” No, they just made another Modest Mouse record. One that could easily fit chronologically in between any of their past records. And they said they were working with Big Boi and everything, where’s that project? That would be cool, that would be new and interesting. Don’t get me wrong though, the single “Lampshades of Fire” is one for the “Best of Modest Mouse” playlists, but there’s something about hearing more songs of the same style and caliber from the same band you heard them from 8 years ago that doesn’t really add the excitement that you would hope for.
Listen on Apple Music and Spotify.