Modest Mouse-No One's First and You're Next.

After great success from their most recent release, Modest Mouse has been on what seems an endless tour. Luckily Isaac Brock and crew were able to put together this EP to satisfy our hunger until their next full-length release. No One’s First and You’re Next is the compilation of unreleased tracks and B-sides from their previous two albums. The music retains al the classic characteristics of Modest Mouse that initially sparked my interest while exhibiting a more mature and polished finish. Their talents and creativity have always played ahead of the curve and that momentum was propelled by the addition of The Smith’s Johnny Marr who brought another unique quality to the table. These eight tracks demonstrate the successes in this new marriage while reminding us of the unfathomably dark ideas that conceal themselves in Brock’s imagination. In Good News for People who Love Bad News, there were harmonious lead-ins, explanations of emotions and an introspective investigations of one’s own worth on this Earth. We Were Dead Before the Ship Ever Sank, moves its listeners onto a separate plain casting our spirits in this earthly surrounding testing our self-esteem from an alternate perspective with a harder and more punchy delivery in their sound. The explorations of death and celebration of opportunities in life have been signature ideas constantly challenged in Brock’s music and are still present in this most recent EP. The band attempts to straddle the contrasting plains created in their previous two LPs, playing devils advocate with the concepts of life after death while creating intrigue in how Brock continuously challenges himself as a musician finding alternate toe tapping forms to translate these murky notions. Much buzz centers around the track, “King Rat” primarily because Heath Ledger prior to his death began work a video for the song which was ultimately completed by it’s co-director, Dan Auber.
Unfortunately for Modest Mouse fans the future does not seem near for a release of new material, but this EP is an excellent bridge for us to revisit all the wonderfully intricate tendencies in their discography. Ultimately it builds its listeners to the chewy center of epic guitar goodness and recreates an overall retrospective sensation of the positive attributes from the six albums created in the past 12 years.