We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

Modest Mouse – the main indie band

If you take any interest in indie rock than you know Modest Mouse, if you know Modest Mouse than you know that this band takes one of the main places among the trendsetters of modern indie rock. If somebody wants to dispute, he should take an attentive look at the recent popular indie releases and compare it with Modest Mouse works. Those things that Isaak Brock has established as far back as 97, this means 10 years ago by the way, blossom with lush vegetation in the songs of not only more or less known bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah but also of quite unique acts like The Arcade Fire. Thus, each new album of this band is a potential hit by default and a pattern for all the followers of rock music of developed Internet age. Last year Modest Mouse have caused quite a stir in the indie community when they announced that the band's constant line up will be joined by Johnny Marr – a guitarist of legendary The Smiths – a band, which became a founder of Britpop division and whose influence stretch to the entire alternative music of today. In one word, it sounds like Modest Mouse decided to make a real bomb to shake the indie world with the power of two influential musicians.      

The album's main instrument is Isaak Brock's voice

So what did Modest Mouse prepare this time around? First of all it must be said that We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank is much more Isaak Brock's album rather than Johnny Marr's. The influence of a new guitar player is so ghostly that a person who is not initiated into the history of this album would hardly ever notice any cardinal guitar work differences from the previous records of the band. However, who said that this is bad? These are exaggerated expectations that spoil everything! In fact, Marr has just tactfully ingrown into the music and this is very important process for the prosperity of any band. Listen to Fire It Up and Missed The Boat – these are great songs and you can find Marr's guitar glimmer here brighter than in any other song. But, as it was said before, the major person on the album is Isaak Brock. His voice is the most important instrument that took part in the record session, all the rest just accompany. Every song abounds with his diverse emotional phrases, sometimes he fools around, sometimes he complains, sometimes grumbles. Take March Into The Sea for instance or the album's single Dashboard, both songs represent the whole range of Brock's characters.               

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank – big, adult Modest Mouse

It is obvious that We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank gains benefits in sound when compared with Modest Mouse's previous album. This record sounds more dense and qualitative and still it doesn't lose a fundamental sonic simplicity of indie music. Overall, the new album is more interesting than Good News For People Who Love Bad News, though they both have some similarities. We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank develops tendency of the previous album and strives to be understandable for the masses, it features a potential radio hit Dashboard - Good News' Float On and a whole bunch of interesting and accessible songs. This doesn’t mean that Modest Mouse repeat themselves, they rather push off from their early works. There are a lot of themes and hooks whose echoes are scattered across all Modest Mouse's albums, particularly Brock often makes use of sinning against bare drums in the finishing part of the song. Overall, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank turned out to be a good album. May be it didn't become a new rock music milestone but it can challenge any indie release of this year. We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank is big and adult Modest Mouse and all the attempts of numerous followers of this band look childish on its background.