Monday, April 13, 2009

Modest Mouse

The first time I ever heard Modest Mouse was in Santa Cruz, CA. I was staying with some buddies of mine and my friend Courtney was nice enough to put on This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About whilst I went to sleep on the couch. Unfortunately I wasn't sold on it yet.

After that a long line of people tried to sell me on the merits of this band. It wasn't until a little bit later that I finally saw them and changed my mind. They played an instore at Mod Lang to about 20 people and totally killed it. I started buying their records then and there.

I saw them a few more times in the next few years, and I have to say that the best was one of two nights in a row at Bottom Of The Hill, probably sometime in 1997 or 1998. They were unbelievable. I went the second night -- but I've heard the first night was even better.

This CD has been out of print for a while now. I even had a dream once that I saw a vinyl copy of it at Amoeba (I cannot remember the dream exactly but I do know that it wasn't about Modest Mouse -- their record merely made a cameo appearance. Product placement for a fake product, if you will).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Modest Mouse.

Interstate 8 (Up)
1. Interstate 8
2. All Night Diner
3. Sleepwalking
4. Tundra/Desert
5. Edit The Sad Parts
6. Beach Side Property (Live)
7. Button To Push The Buttons (Live)
8. Novocain Stain (Live)
9. Broke (Live)
10. Whenever I Breathe Out (Live)
11. Edit The Sad Parts (Live)

2 comments:

A A-F said...

I had the same experience with Modest Mouse - they took quite a while to grow on me but when they did, boy did they! This EP is still my favorite thing they have ever recorded. Something about the "live" version of "Beach Side Property" on this is way sicker than the tamer version on This is a Long Drive...

Your blog is so excellent, and thank you so much for sharing such great music with the world.

Unknown said...

I saw their very first show in Seattle WA on I think 5th street in 94 or 95. My band had just broken up and was supposed to go on a tour with a band called Shroom Union. Well we went to hang out anyway. They were just a two piece then, guitar/vox and drums. Was blown away actually. I spent the rest of the night bullshitting with Issac. I kept asking him his name, and he wouldn't tell me what it really was. Kept saying his parents were hippies and they named him pissbucket. He repeated it for hours and hours and when I actually said I believed him, he laughed in my face. I guess then I knew he had the attention span and tenacity to do something great.... I thought he was an asshole for that, though.
Craig