No One's First, and You're Next

Modest Mouse: out of the shadows and into the sun

So far music experts have not agreed upon the unified system that could classify all the artists into those belonging to mainstream and those dwelling in the underground. There is no that divine number of sold CDs or awards that could automatically lead a performer into the all-star league. While there are those whose god-like, iconic or supernatural status is beyond all doubts, the majority of musicians simply tread their path hoping one day to reach stardom. Among them we might find the American rockers Modest Mouse, an experienced band with long life in the music industry. These musicians formed their group in the distant year 1993 and walked step by step towards their recognition. With the breakthrough album Good News for People Who Love Bad News they stated clearly their claim to a place among truly popular and dearly loved artists. The release of the EP We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank made their ambitions even more serious. Now, in 2009, Modest Mouse presented their subsequent record many consider the best in their entire discography. It is called No One's First and You're Next and might be just that very work that would bring them the title of an elite indie-rock act.

The new album’s songs: so different, yet together

Frankly, there not so many expectations from this Modest Mouse release since the record in question featured the odds, the songs that failed to go through to the previous albums, mostly to Good News For People Who Love Bad News. Here is the question whether the musicians have evolved professionally this much or whether they re-recorded this material in such a way that it gained a new mood, new life, new energy. Whatever it is, the very first listening brings about the thought that these tracks could not match the other studio works so nicely as here. The opening track is energetic Satellite Skin with Isaac Brock’s singing reaching its perfection. Another notable composition is an acoustic piece called Autumn Beds, again decorated with beautiful vocals. Yet The Whale Song’s strongest point is definitely the guitar play bringing the listener back to the sadness and gloominess of The Moon & Antarctica. Considering the fact that the songs of No One's First and You're Next were not written at one time and purposefully for this record, there is no surprise that the track-listing lacks harmony or balance. At the same moment, this contributed to eccentricity and attractiveness of the whole release. Placed next to each other, Perpetual Motion Machine, and History Sticks to Your Feet are so much different on part of execution that it seems these are songs from two separate albums of two separate artists. This only shows how many sides the creativity of Modest Mouse might have. Perhaps, the most interesting composition of all the eight presented here is King Rat, initially designed as bonus for We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. It is peculiar for the constant shifting of tempos and emotiveness, anxiety of Brock’s singing. The album is closed by I’ve Got It All (Most), a piece in many ways traditional for Modest Mouse.

No One's First and You're Next – a new life or second youth?

So, here we have got eight songs by Modest Mouse, not even enough for a full-length record. Officially, it is a mini-album, while in its essence it is a demonstration of what Modest Mouse were, are and will be. A bit more than thirty three minutes give a good understanding of how many-faceted this band’s music can be, how many unexpected solutions it may conceal and how much important the lyrical side is to these musicians. Beginning as a regular punk-rock act, they have got much closer to indie-rock now, capable of adding elements of other trends to their sounding, which only serves to improve their art. Those who have followed the events in the life of Modest Mouse since they started, will certainly notice their professional growth. There were times when this group was interesting only as a team of good poets. However, No One's First and You're Next puts it straight that these musicians have enhanced their skills greatly for the past years. The instruments here sound as polished and harmonic as never before; the vocals have never been this emotional and colorful. Sure, Modest Mouse are more than fifteen years on the stage; and many performers, on reaching this point, start copying their own stuff of the best times, while the others begin playing the same set during still crowded concerts. However, in the case of Modest Mouse, it seemed that this group has its moment of glory just ahead. No One's First and You're Next proves this point as well as it can.