I’m not quite ready to get into an in-depth discussion of any kind about the new Modest Mouse CD, but I will say that it’s the best thing I’ve heard so far this year, hands down. It’s been in rotation with Laced With Romance by The Ponys since last week.
They’re very different albums. Listening to The Ponys is a big game of “Spot the Influence”. At various times, they sound like Television (in a big, big way – singerguitarist Jered Gummere sounds like Tom Verlaine after a round of oral surgery), The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth* (Kim Gordon-esque vocals from bass player Melissa Elias), My Bloody Valentine, and probably several others I haven’t picked up yet. Hell, the intro to “Fall Inn” is lifted directly from one of the Phil Spector-produced girl groups. I’m thinking it’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” by The Shirelles, but I can’t be sure. You get the idea, anyway.
Good News For People Who Love Bad News, on the other hand, doesn’t really sound like anything but Modest Mouse. (I’ve heard people say that, in fact, it doesn’t sound like them at all; I’ll get back to that in a moment.) There are bits here and there that are somewhat reminiscent of Talking Heads, but nothing as overt as what The Ponys are doing.
At this late date, I would imagine that it’s very difficult indeed for musicians to come up with anything completely original in the rock & roll vein. There’s some fifty years of back catalog to contend with (depending on what date you place on the origin of R&R). That’s not to say that it can’t be done, of course. But it’s difficult to assimilate one’s influences, versus imitating them.
I like The Ponys, mostly (I suspect) because I like the artists they sonically resemble. However, I’ve slammed bands like Interpol for doing pretty much the same thing as The Ponys, only using reference points I’m not as keen on. ( “Love Will Tear Us Apart” aside, I was never much of a Joy Division fan.) Does this make me a hypocrite? Very well then, I am a hypocrite. I am large; I contain multitudes.
And speaking of multitudes**: Modest Mouse are already getting some flak from fans for making a more accessible album. Here’s a customer review I pulled from the Barnes and Noble page:
Aptly Named Album
Modest mouse seems to have abandened all of the musical elements that made them so unique. On "Good News" M. M. has an over-produced, generic sound. Where are the whammy barred harmonics and phrenetic lyrics? The playful, walking basslines? The seat-of-the-pants drumming? Overall, the excited, creative feel of their better work is not represented here; this themeless, disjointed album is clearly an attempt at mainstream acclaim. Oh well, what could they have possibly done to top "the Moon and Antarctica?" Three years, the loss of the rhythmic core, and an extraneous band member didn't help the effort. See you on MTV.
We’ll set aside the typos, as well as the fact that the reviewer is dead wrong about the album being themeless, over-produced and generic. He/she is basically taking the band to task for not making The Moon and Antarctica over again. Which, let’s face it, is not really fair to Modest Mouse. Like it or not, bands cannot stand still and remain viable. They are like sharks in this respect – they move forward or they die. (Unless we're talking about AC/DC, in which case that analogy doesn't work.) Now, “forward” doesn’t always mean “the way the long-time fan wants/expects”, and that’s where a lot of people start shouting “sellout” and getting all self-righteous. It’s hard not to do that. God knows I’ve been guilty of it from time to time.
Being a fan of a band is something like being in a relationship. (Sit down, I’m going somewhere with this.) You meet, you hit it off, you swear it’s true love this time. Then, eventually, one or the other of you changes, grows in a different direction than the other does. If you’re the one changing, you can usually see it and it just seems like an organic part of life. If it’s the other that’s growing off somewhere you can’t/won’t go, however, you accuse them of not being the person they once were, and why can’t we have things the way they used to be? Then you go on a month-long bender, boring your friends and random strangers on the barstool next to you with tales of how good it used to be until that bitch went and got all stuck up and snooty, thinking she was better than you, and… um… ah…
Anyway, you see what I’m getting at, right? Right? Sometimes bands you love are going to move off in directions other than those you might wish for. This is not to say that bands never sell out. Christ no. However, if you truly like the band to begin with, maybe it’s better to realize that artists can’t keep making the same piece over and over. They stagnate that way. Be generous, give them the benefit of the doubt, and move on.
There’s more than one band in the sea, you know.
*Hey, Thurston and Kim are in their late 40’s-early 50’s by now, they’re parents – when the hell are they gonna become Sonic Adults?
**Deft segue, no?