Modest Mouse / We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Album: We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank   Collection:General
Artist:Modest Mouse   Added:Apr 2007
Label:Epic Records  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2007-04-15 Pull Date: 2007-06-17
Week Ending: Jun 17 Jun 10 Jun 3 May 27 May 20 May 13 May 6 Apr 29
Airplays: 5 3 7 6 6 7 9 6

Recent Airplay
1. Aug 18, 2023: KZSU Time Traveler
Dashboard
4. Feb 01, 2023: Early Riser
Fire It Up
2. Aug 03, 2023: down in the basement
Missed The Boat
5. Dec 15, 2022: down in the basement
Missed The Boat
3. Jul 06, 2023: down in the basement
March Into The Sea
6. Nov 03, 2022: down in the basement
Dashboard

Album Review
canuck
Reviewed 2007-04-17
6th album, a nautically themed one, of "indie" rock from these Pacific Northwest stalwarts. This album sees the addition of Johnny Marr (the Smiths) to the band. Marrdest Mouse--get it? Whether this shows obvious signs of Marr's influence or not, I'll leave up to the real Smiths' fans. James Mercer of the Shins also offers backup vocals on a number of songs. For simplicity, I call Isaac Brock's energetic sing-shouting style "yelping" below. This debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts and it's on a major, so it's not indie after all, but that doesn't preclude it from being good.
-Adrian FCC: 4, 5, 9, 12, 13
My picks: 1, 2, 5(FCC), 10, 11, 12(FCC)

1. 6/8 accordion lilt goes quickly into a full med-slow rocker with signature Brock yelp. Alternates between subdued and full-on.
2. the single. catchy and upbeat.
3. med-slow and subdued. starts with bass and drums (and drum programming), then one of those MM single-note guitar lines. group singing before it goes fully into the song.
4. FCC ("shit" at 2:55 remaining) med-fast. a few guitar parts and drums under the Brock yelping. melodic chorus. subdued breakdown 3/4 the way through.
5. FCC (2x "fuck", 1x "shithead") starts slow and subdued. dark. starts with stomping, clapping and acoustic guitar. cello adds later. gets into mandolin+violin+vocal+stomping+clapping frenzy at the end
6. med-slow and subdued. pretty soft.
7. med-fast. lots o guitars. has some 80s-sounding background vocals by Mercer.
8. walking tempo (strutting tempo?). strange horn sound at the beginning, then goes into a multiple-guitar yelp fest.
9. FCC ("shit" w/ 3:10 remaining) starts with bass, random percussion and far-off vocals before going into a fuller arrangement. again, this song is for strutting
10. slow. starts subdued with guitars and keyboards and soft vocals. builds in almost post-rocky way
11. mid-tempo. driven by a classic modest mouse guitar line. other guitars and percussion adds in. breakdown with reverbed guitar and vocals.
12. FCC ("fucked up at 6:23 remaining) long (8:29) acoustic guitar and voice with flirtations of electric guitar and percussion until 1:30 in when it because full band. break down then it becomes positively post-rocky for the last half.
13. FCC("fucked up" at 1:17 remaining) med-tempo. mostly subdued with slight outbursts with swirling and repeated guitar riffs
14. med-fast with plenty of guitars and yelping.

Track Listing
1. March Into The Sea   8. Fly Trapped In A Jar
2. Dashboard   9. Education
3. Fire It Up   10. Little Motel
4. Florida   11. Steam Engenius
5. Parting Of The Sensory   12. Spitting Venom
6. Missed The Boat   13. People As Places As People
7. We've Got Everything   14. Invisble