Attempting to avoid an abused pun

Isaac Brock (lyrics/guitar)
Eric Judy (bass)
Dann Gallucci (guitar organ and other weird things)
Benjamin Weikel (drums)

I first heard about Modest Mouse from one of my friends who worships punk music so when I saw the video for "Float On" I was surprised at its rich oceany sound.I liked float on a lot so I decided to pick up this album.

The thing that most impressed me about Modest Mouse was their incredible musical diversity.They work so many various sounds into their music .Loops and strange organ sounds seem to pop up everywhere.

A great example of that is the first track "Horn Intro" which is a brass introduction.(oddly enough)How many other bands are going to bring in a horn band to start thier album? The next track "The World at Large" is a pleasent soft tune with a light blissful mood with quite possibly the best lyrical melody on the CD.

Next is "Float On" the bands big hit.One of if not the best songs of a musically deprived 2004. Fizzly drums and oceanic guitar parts make for a great song you wont want to miss(if you havent caught it already).Track four "Ocean Breathes Salty" is thier follow up single to "Float on" but doesn't come anywhere near its musicianship.It ends up being an average track due to a repitious main riff and annoying chorus.

"Dig your grave" is brief ukelelee filler. "Bury Me With It" has a frenzied egyptian feel with various background noises but manages to deliver some great moments such as "Just dont need none of that Mad MAx bullsh*t" and "We were aimin at the moon we were shootin at the stars but the kids were just shootin at the buses and the cars"

"Dance Hall" ends up being one of the weaker moments of the cd with some unaudible swaggers from Brock and jumbled background effects that just sounds bad.Next up is "Bukowski" is a great acoustic tune with funny and witty lyrics.

"The Devils Workday" is where the brass make a comeback. Wailing trumpets and driving tubas propell this song.Brock whips out the banjo for a nice eerie feel.Definately one of the highlights of the cd. "The View" is a nice change if pace from the downcast mood of the past few songs but get annoying fairly quickly and sounds too much like that song by The Coores.

In "Satin in a Coffin" Brock again pulls out the banjo and delivers a quirky song that I couldnt really get the jist of.Nontheless it remains a decent track with a scorching
guitar fills."Interlude" is just a bizzare filler.Im not sure why theres an interlude 3/4 of the way through the album but hey.

"Blame it On the Tetons" is probably the worst track on the album. Words such as lethargic boring and lengthy come to mind."Black Cadillacs" is an outstading track with great guitar and bass parts. The lyrics are some of the best on the cd as well.The piano adds great musical depth in the slow portions.

"One chance" is a mix between "Blame it on the Tetons" and "Dance Hall" so as you might im agine its not that good.The beginning and end have a slow Tetons like feel and the middle has that chaotic "Dance Hall" blend.

The final track is "The Good Times are Killing Me" wraps up this cd.It starts out slowly and gradually gets better butt you may havepressed the skip button it by the time it finally becomes decent.
I have yet to pick up one of Modest Mouse's older records buy if they are anyhting like this I definatley will find time to.