Good News for Indie Rock Fans

You may have heard a lot of things about this album. This is Modest Mouse’s most successful and accessible release yet. This has caused indie “fans” to label it their “sell-out” album. This claim stems simply from the fact that indie fans are a greedy bunch: they can’t stand to see others listening to their bands. Just because “Good News” is sold at Best Buy and the “Float On” video gets VH1 airtime, many former fans have disowned the group.

Don’t listen to them. Commercial success does not mean selling out, and this album is proof.

The opening quartet of tracks flows together beautifully. “Horn Intro,” the first of the album's many short instrumental interludes, runs directly into the soft, contemplative “The World at Large.” As the closing chords of this track wind down, they segue directly into the band’s mainstream hit “Float On,” which mimics the chord structures of the previous song. “Float On” then cuts directly into another college-radio mainstay, the nostalgic “Ocean Breathes Salty.” This type of harmony is apparent throughout the rest of the album.

The sound ranges dramatically between the tracks. Whereas “Float On” and “Ocean Breathes Salty” are guitar-driven pop songs, the rest of the songs range from the retro (like the driving disco-style backbeat on “The View”) to the bizarre (including, but not limited to, frontman Isaac Brock’s banjo playing on “This Devil’s Workday” and “Satin in a Coffin”). The brief interludes between songs showcase the more obscure instruments, including ukulele and pump organ, and other odd instruments like accordion and a brass band sneak in from time to time in the songs. Overall, this makes for a very interesting and diverse sound.

Almost all songs on this album are playlist-worthy. Of course, to get the full effect, one should listen to the album straight through as much as possible. Two tracks in the middle of the album (the repetitive, incoherent “Dance Hall” and the brooding “Bukowski”) lag behind in quality in comparison to the rest of the album. But out of the slump following the latter of the tracks come the sounds of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, leading into the unique brass/banjo heavy “This Devil’s Workday” and the strangely uplifting “The View.”

Overall, this is basically the album that comes to mind when I think of mainstream indie rock. So, especially if you’re used to the alternative rock scene and want to expand your tastes without getting too far “out there,” you should disregard its critics and give this “Good News” a chance.