It was Monday, April 5, 2004, and I was rushing home. I was working out of the Brooklyn MfA office, and got to Grand Central about forty-five seconds before my train to my parents’ house left. I laughed to myself as I overtook all the businessmen in their penny-loafers and shiny shoes running to catch the same train, as I, in my worn out tennis shoes (ooh, hip), breezed by with ease. I promptly stopped laughing as I ran to the incorrect train track. Damn. I swear that Track 109 looks a lot like Track 102 from a distance. Realizing that I’m a jackass, I slid to a stop - an actual slide because of (I’m assuming) the worn out nature of my shoes, and hauled ass to the correct track, now, several feet behind the same penny-loafered businessmen I had mocked not thirty seconds earlier…To quote Happy Hard-on Harry, ‘So be it’.
I was rushing home for two reasons. One being that my parents suggested it was in my best ‘do you want any birthday presents this year?’ interests to go to our Seder and eat our Passover dinner of Matzoh Ball Soup and, wait for it, Corned Beef (I shit you not. Weirdly, we’re not even Irish. My parents are crazy. They are now the people they used to mock wearing larger than normal hats who drive 35 mph in the fastlane. So be it.) Two being that I was receiving Modest Mouse’s new album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News (GNFPWLBN) , as well as their bootleg, Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again (BVBRA) , and wanted to give a listen. You can buy these two gems for a low price for yourself at www.modesmoustbootlegs.com. I have been digging GNFPWLBN for about a week now (though at first, I was disappointed, it grows on you like Howard Dean after a few listens) and wanted to check out BVBRA. And, then the idea struck me to do a review. Because, I’m sure all the usual outlets will be reviewing GNFPWLBN, as it is slated to be the album that will make Modest Mouse a household name, or, according to this Radio DJ, ‘rockstars’, but I imagine less people will review BVBRA.
So, let’s start with the packaging. It’s simple, thin cardboard that’s glued together to make it seem like thick cardboard. I actually almost ruined the packaging looking for a non-existent booklet because of the packaging – and, I was a little disappointed not to find one. The cover photo, credited to Isaac Brock, is a silhouetted, murky image of a unicorn rearing up in front of a sunset (or rise). Shades of blue, white, orange into red, and black are on the cover with the simple text ‘MMIV’, which took me longer than I want to admit to realize it stood for 2004. The back is a pale yellow with tracklistings, photo credits, and the show’s date and location of The Social in Orlando, Fl from February 14th and 15th of this year. For simple packaging, it’s pretty, intriguing, and artsy/DIY enough to pass. The disc itself is a bright yellow sun version of their brilliant 1996 cd, This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About (TIALDFSWNTTA). GNFPWLBN is a pink version of that same cd.
After finishing my corned beef, I popped BVBRA into my computer. The entire disc/set clocks in at 45 minutes, and starts off with 3rd Planet from their major label debut, The Moon and Antarctica (TMAA) – an interesting song to start a set as it contains the lyrics “And that’s how the world began. And that’s how the world will end.?? The recording is really clean and full – and it’s something that strikes me throughout my entire listen of the disc. The band is able to achieve a soundscape that is full, and lush, and a clean contrast to Isaac’s beautiful and often unclean voice, while achieving that soundscape with simple melodies traded between the players. This offering confirms that they are a great band, and proves that they are a great live band, something which I had heard disputed before.
Out of ten tracks, four are from TMAA, two are from The Lonesome Crowded West (TLCW), three are from their collection of b-sides and rarities, Building Nothing Out Of Something (BNOOS), and only one is from GNFPWLBN. I wished for more songs from GNFPWLBN, and as well, any songs from TIALDFSWNTTA or Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks.
The highlights of the album are all the songs from BNOOS. Over Modest Mouse’s career, Brock’s voice has become more of a punctuated stacatto – a friend of mine remarked that at times it’s almost as if he is performing a melodious rap. To hear Brock’s refined voice redo songs from earlier in their career when his voice wasn’t as punctuated is a pleasure and a new way to enjoy some of those older songs.
Midway through the set, after the end of Paper This Walls, some Stanleys in the audience start yelling for the band to play Freebird. This happens at several of the shows I go to, but this time, the band responds. I believe it is Isaac who says “I know I’ve said this before, but, the odds of us playing Freebird – there are no odds. It’s not going to happen. I’ll start with the first reason. We have no idea how to play freebird. The 2nd reason is, we're in the Lovebug’s natural habitat, and that would just fucking kill him, wouldn’t it? And you wouldn’t want that. He’s adorable. He is cute. Thirdly, even if like some, pick your diety, whoever, came down from the heavens, or the hills, wherever the deity lives. And blessed us with this vast knowledge of Freebird – we could play it backwards, we could sing backwards – all that crazy shit. We just still wouldn’t do it." Some cheering, and then heckling ensues. Isaac responds and goes in for the kill, "If this were the Make A Wish Foundation, and you were going to die in 20 minutes, just long enough to play Freebird, we still wouldn’t play it. And here’s the end reason. The end reason is life is too fucking short to play or hear Freebird." And the band cuts immediately into I Came As A Rat, which is so tight and accomplishes the Mogwaiesque meandering and build it up tear it down tempo changes so well, it is easily a highlight of the set.
Bankrupt on Selling from TLCW is beautiful and gets well deserved crowd reaction. The set closes as their new album closes, with The Good Times Are Killing Me. On GNFPWLBN, the Flaming Lips are involved with the track, where on this set, it's only the four guys from Modest Mouse. And the song sounds different. It's a little more sparse, but still an ironically upbeat closer that leaves nothing to be desired except more Modest Mouse. One of my favorite Modest Mouse songs is Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset off of TIALDFSWNTTA. In it, Brock sings of uncertainty in the future. "And I claim I'm not excited with my life anymore. So I blame this town, this job, these friends - the truth is it's myself. I'm trying to understand myself and anyone who I am, I finally get it figured out, I change the whole damn plan....Changed my mind so much I can't even trust it. My mind changed me so much I can't even trust myself." Since then, Modest Mouse has gotten a lot of well-deserved success. They have experienced what the world has to offer, and have gotten at least parts of it figured out. To close, he sings "Got dirt, got air, got water, and I know you could carry on." And let's hope that when Brock sings, "The good times are killing me.", that they'll still be around to create their music, and inspire people to realize they're not alone.
Modest Mouse's bootleg, Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again, is a great album
Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again is the first live CD that Modest Mouse has ever unofficially issued. Recorded live at The Social in Orlando, FL on February 14 & 15, 2004, this 10-track Bootleg CD is available exclusively online.
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