Let’s face it, Modest Mouse is never going to get any better and cooler than they were a few years ago when Johnny Marr joined up for an album and tour, and every album subsequently will be judged against the success of We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Sure early albums like The Moon & Antarctica were great records that built their reputation, but both the commercial and critical success of We Were Dead… makes it the career highlight.

Perhaps that’s why we see an 8 year wait between records, although, it really doesn’t seem like that long ago, but I digress…

Modest Mouse has always balanced themselves on a thread between ambitious and eccentric. At their best they have this quirky genius thing going on and the other side of the coin is this pretentious arty bullshit that isn’t nearly as smart as they seem to…