All 91 Modest Mouse Songs Ranked

Modest Mouse has been one of my favorite bands since 2007. I still remember when I first heard "All Nite Diner" in an Improv Everywhere sketch (low quality video alert) while stumbling around YouTube on my family's dial-up internet. As a sophomore in high school who just found out about indie music, I had somehow missed what was likely their peak popularity with the release of Good News For People Who Love Bad News and the debut of "Float On" in 2004. Which isn't a surprise since I was a dumb 12-year-old kid in Jr. High who only listened to his mom's classic rock back in 2004.

Even with how much I enjoy Modest Mouse as a band, one of the most interesting things about them to me has always been how much of an acquired taste they are. As my first exposure to them, I didn't even like "All Nite Diner" the first time I heard it--I thought it sounded interesting, but had a brash and invasive sound. But for some reason, I couldn't get it out of my brain for a few days and I found myself wanting to go back and listen to it again-- which I painstakingly did (it was dialup, remember) a few times until I grew to simply love it.

A big part of my falling in love with their sound was how purely unique it was. They seem to do something with their guitars and bending, something with their rhythms and their voices, and blending it all together like nobody else on the scene seems to. Isaac Brock has a uniquely lispy, haggard, often unfriendly voice I could pick out of an entire choir of indie and rock singers. Which, now that I think about it, I'm bummed that choir doesn't and will probably never exist. But all these unique attributes, of course, don't make them quite as unique as does their signature depressingly philosophical lyrics made up of trademark Isaac Brockisms (e.g. "If I had a nickel for every damn dime I'd have half the time, do you mind?"). Something about their dark, alcoholic, drug-fueled, God-doubting, existence-hating, universe-questioning motifs that still aren't necessarily all nihilist doom and gloom somehow blend well enough with their distinctive sound to make for a perfectly alluring listening experience--which I submit is true regardless of if you share Brock's lyrical opinions or just find his perspective interesting as an outsider. I know because I've found myself on both sides at times.

For the curious and the unindulgent alike, I thought I'd give a quick summary of my favorite ups and downs of Modest Mouse's six studio albums as it comes across in these rankings. I tend to favor Good News for People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank since that's what was hip and new when I came into the indie scene, in addition to their sentimental value of exposing me to indie music and being some of the first CDs I ever bought. I find The Moon and Antarctica to be their best complete album, but polarized with some of their greatest hits and not without a few duds that really only help the album along but don't do well standing alone. Songs from Lonesome Crowded West and Strangers to Ourselves fall into a similar dichotomy as Moon & Antarctica, but all around to a lesser degree and without the extremes--although great, less complete, somewhat top-heavy, and a fair few songs that don't pull their own weight when compared to my favorite Modest Mouse songs. While innovative at the time, This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About doesn't hold the same value to me as it probably did to listeners when Modest Mouse made their debut in 1996 and is probably my least favorite of the bunch--but not without a few of their best hits regardless. Lastly, I haven't yet included their 2021 entry Golden Casket because a) When I started these rankings, the album wasn't even out yet and b) new Modest Mouse songs really take a while to grow on me. I need some time to digest them and hear them in different contexts over a year or two before I'm really ready to say what my complete thoughts are on them. I hope to add them in someday.

One last note on Modest Mouse's albums and discography: because Modest Mouse has the most disorganized and scattered discography of any band I know, I limited these rankings to only include the 6 full-length studio albums and not EPs, singles, or compilations. This is kind of a bummer because it's missing potential top 10 hits for me like "Never Ending Math Equation," "Sleepwalking," and "Night on the Sun," but I see it as a necessity to draw the line somewhere. If I felt more comfortable with every small EP and single they ever released, I might take a crack at ranking every song they ever put out, but c'est la vie. Maybe some day.

A few last notes before getting to the rankings: firstly, sometimes when ranking it can be hard to separate songs from albums, especially with a band like Modest Mouse that is just so good at writing complete albums with specific feels, moods, motifs, and messages. But here in my rankings, I tried to separate the quality of a song from the album to evaluate how well I think it stands on its own. It's an imperfect method because a big part of how good a Modest Mouse song is can in no small part be attributed to how well it builds the message and theme of the album--but I'd rather pick the songs out of the albums to compare them individually than to try and create some kind of convoluted ranking of how each song fits into an album and its contextual value. To me, that seems almost impossible. I hope this makes sense. Secondly, since I didn't want to spend 60 hours on this project, and because I have a lot to say about some songs and very little to say about others, I thought I'd try to limit myself to roughly a paragraph (100-150ish words each) per song. Hopefully, that makes the reviews more digestible anyhow. Lastly, if you've made it this far without just skipping to see what's on the top 10, I'd just like to say thanks for reading. Now for the list.

 

Tier 6 -- Album Contributors & Mediocre Tracks

91. "Dig Your Grave" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

Okay, so the first three songs on this list aren't real songs. They're just short interlude or intro tracks meant to highlight musical motifs to the album, which they do well. But as stand-alone songs, they don't have much to offer. Being the worst musical track of the three, "Dig Your Grave" really just offers creepy guitar picking that works as a good intro to "Bury Me With It," with some Isaac Brock whisperings about hoping a someone is dead (which we'll see again in "Satin in a Coffin"). It adds to the album, but at 13 seconds long it doesn't stand on its own.

90. "Horn Intro" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

Similar to the last song on this list, "Horn Intro" is basically just an early melodic foreshadowing of the horn intro on "This Devil's Workday." It isn't out of place and it fits the theme of the album, but it's just 9 seconds of a two note harmonies and some trumpet trill. It isn't a song I'd put on and it's a song I would normally never hear unless I'm running through the whole album.

89. "Interlude (Milo)" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

I actually really like the organ solo interlude this song offers. If it was just that, I might actually rank it above some of the other real songs I'm not too fond of. But halfway through, we hear a baby (that we can only assume is named Milo) start to babble and it turns this song off for me. I get it. I get that it's art and there's a meaning here. But actually having to hear Milo babble has me skipping this song whenever I hear it, which is a shame for the beautiful organ piece they put together, wherever it came from.

88. "Ohio" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

It's really hard to get past the screeching "Ohhh hi-eeee ohhhhhh" intro. But if you do, there are five and a half more minutes of a chill repetition jam session waiting for you afterwards and that's it. The song actually does pick up a bit after the screeching, but it's hard to even pick out any meaning from the quasi-audible lyrics.

87. "Might" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

This album can be a bit tough to get through at times in the context of modern indie music, which is largely because of a few songs like "Might." The album title and theme are so good, but as a whole the album is really top-heavy. The bottom half of the album is filled with disorganized dissonance and distant vocals with some good guitar riffs. In its unfriendly listening imperfection, it does still sound like Modest Mouse. It's not awful, but it's basically all experimental/rule breaking elements of Modest Mouse with bits and pieces of what they'd eventually become, but none of the polish. Some might call it raw, I might call it less appealing. I get that the entire game was different back in 1996, but I guess what I'm saying is the bottom half of this album doesn't hold up as well as you might expect, unless you're a long time fan. 

86. "Head South" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

Unlike some Long Drive songs that start out with a glimmer of promise and then flame out, this one starts out slow with its sloppy dual vocals. But it also doesn't really make it too much further along the musically appealing scale with Brock's more than occasional forceful wailing "HEAD SOUTH, HEAD SOUTH." I guess as a general rule, the louder Isaac Brock screeches the less I love it. Even in all its raw vocal glory. But that's just because his singing is one of my favorite things about this band. It's worth noting the two minute instrumental outro is actually pretty damn good, but it's sadly the best part of the song.

85. "Beach Side Property" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

The first few seconds of this song feels like a winner. Then the second guitar comes in, followed by Isaac Brock screaming repeatedly. I just can't get past that to enjoy this song as a 7 minute experience. They really lost me in the first 30 seconds, not gonna lie. It's interesting that every one of my least favorite songs on Long Drive needs particular mention of their intros separate from the rest of the song, but if you actually listen to the intro on these tracks and how different they can be from the tracks themselves, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

84. "The Tortoise and the Tourist" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

In the darkest moments of Strangers to Ourselves, I couldn't help but feel like Modest Mouse was just holding up a grimy, heavily produced mirror to what I consider their least good songs on what I consider their least good album, Long Drive, for us to relive 19 years later. Usually, one of Modest Mouse's biggest strengths is their lyrics and how perfectly they mesh with the music. Here, we get this:

There was this tortoise, its shell was covered with jewels

 And had been since time began 

It knew the world through all its histories 

And the universe and its mysteries

It seriously feels like they're parodying themselves. Maybe strangers to their own selves, you might say.

Like looking at a messy expressionist painting, I feel like maybe I just don't "get" this song. When I finish listening to it, it seriously feels like I somehow just listened to a blur. I don't think this song has enough melody or musical direction for it to even be possible to get it stuck in your head. Why this made it onto some of their recent live setlists, I have no idea. I'm guessing Isaac Brock just got drunk enough one night to realize the words "tortoise" and "tourist" sound somewhat similar and decided he loved it enough to base an entire song on it. I dunno, maybe that's a little harsh--but that's my guess on where this song came from.

83. "Shit in Your Cut" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

This song is so eerie and it rubs me the wrong way. It doesn't help that I can't help but hate the imagery of actual literal shit getting in someone's cut. I do figure that's not the actual lyrical meaning for this song, but they don't really give us anything else in this track with enough merit to distract us from this idea. With some passable lyrics in the verses and some decent guitar soloing, this song as a whole just seems not entirely well advised and I'm surprised they put something like this out to the world after more than 20 years into their careers as musicians. At least they substituted darkened backup vocals for their early dual screeching vocals we saw a lot of on Long Drive, I suppose.

Tier 5 -- Weird, But Sometimes Interesting

82. "Dog Paddle" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

This is where things on the list move from "there's a few things I don't really like about this song" to "okay this is a weird song, but it's at least it's got _____." Typical with their guitar rhythm intro, atypical in the way that the vocals are replaced with coughing and wheezing for the first one fourth of the song... I'm not sure what else there is to say about "Dog Paddle." The repeated "I can't swim, so I dog paddle" is at least rhythmic and alluring as Isaac Brock sings in rounds with himself. But like a dog struggling to make it to shore, this track doesn't give us much to hold on to.

81. "Exit Does Not Exist" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

If I'm being honest, the idea of a song called "Exit Does Not Exist" is better than the actual track itself. A great running concept was crucial for Long Drive to really work. But "Exit Does Not Exist" really only offers a dumbed down sample of the innovation we came to expect from Modest Mouse. It's still got their signature rhythm guitar-driven tempo changes, whammy bar note bending, and guitar solos (which are actually really good here), but it feels like they forgot to take the mute out of their creativity trumpet on this one. I also can't say that, after three plaguing years of junior high band, I love the background guitar screeching that plagues the back half of the track as it sounds all too much like an 8th grader squeaking pretty much any woodwind instrument for two minutes straight. And you won't get any compliments from me on the return of the wheezing vocals from "Dog Paddle" either. But I do believe this song helps build the album in a profound way so it definitely deserves some credit.

80. "Life Like Weeds" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

I can't imagine how hard it must be to perform a song with half a dozen tempo changes in just the intro. But with the song petering out for the last two and a half minutes (of a six and a half minute song), I'm not shocked this is a song that didn't end up as a classic and doesn't get time in their live sets these days. It felt like they were on to something in the intro and the bing-bong alternating guitars though. I was genuinely surprised to see this song listed as one of the fan favorites because I feel like there's really not much here, relative to all the awesome melodies and lyrical masterpieces further down on this list.

79. "Of Course We Know" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

"Of Course We Know" sounds like a Modest Mouse cover of a slow, mediocre low-fi indie softcore jam. In that sense, it sounds like a song that doesn't really belong to them but they still made it their own. To be harsh, it sounds more like the idea of a song than a song itself. On the upside, the piano part is really the one musical idea here that brings some real beauty to this song. It's simple and lovely, and this track does work as an outro for the album that emphasizes the uncertainty of life. Just don't ask this song to keep you entertained or to be good enough to want to give it multiple listens.

78. "Truckers Atlas" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

You'd be hard-pressed to find a Modest Mouse song that isn't in some way about driving, traveling, god, the universe, or life. From the excellent drum intro, this 10 minute cross country travel ballad has me thinking of a similarly sounding "Burndt Jamb" by Weezer (which, to be fair, this track came much earlier). "Trucker's Atlas" reasonably could have ended around the halfway mark when the lyrics ended, but they decided to jam out for 5 more minutes. Which I actually really like. It's the kind of song that's perfect for, well, drifting off into your own thoughts as the music lulls on in the back of your mind as you cruise down an uncrowded highway. Pessimistically, this song could reasonably be interpreted as an accurate representation of the monotony of truck driving, and sure, the only time I'd give this a listen all the way to its finish would probably be if I was on a long drive by myself with nothing to think about. Like a clever joke you don't laugh at, maybe I somehow both got and missed the point.

77. "Tundra/Desert" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

This song basically starts after a long 90 second intro of not much happening until in comes the... "awwwwwwww SHIT!" Which I actually think is one of the best moments on the album. But then the song breaks into a panic with an unceasing, dissonant, high/low alternating guitar part for the rest of the song. It feels like an ambulance is trynna pass but just never does. Pretty much everything before and after the "aww shit" is interesting at best. What an interesting track.

76. "Convenient Parking" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

For such an angry song with such great imagery of a chain reaction involving cars bleeding from parking lots to streets to highways to cities, I can't say I'm sure I really get the rest of this song on a fundamental level. But at least that opening idea is solid. With their darker and angrier songs, I usually find myself either buying in and loving it or not liking it at all--pretty hit or miss. With the muttering in the verses and furious energy in the chorus, this one for me is mostly a miss. It's not a song you'd ever sing along to outside the chorus. But I still really like the idea of it.

75. "Alone Down There" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

As the second entry on this list from the reputable Moon & Antarctica, "Alone Down There" is a pensive contribution to the album, but not one of their greatest standalone songs. I think it's purely the creepy element (the whispering and laughing) that turns me off from this song, but at least the lyrics offer some interesting perspective on us as God's creation. The song is cold, more than anything.

74. "Space Travel Is Boring" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

The first 10 seconds of "Space Travel" feel like a panic attack. Even still, they bring that same 10 second riff back two additional times in this 113 second track. As the final outro to Long Drive, "Space Travel" might seem slightly out of place in a concept album about deserts, highways, exits, and the things you'd see and thoughts you had along the way. It seems like it fits in much better thematically with Moon & Antarctica we'd get four years and two albums later. But optimistically and kindly, we probably ought to consider it expert foreshadowing or a transition point to what was to come.

73. "Breakthrough" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

At first, I was pretty low on "Breakthrough" and didn't separate it from the other sloppy Long Drive tracks that are at the top of this list. But after a few re-listens through the album, I think this track has a little more meaning and melody (and quintessential Modest Mouse rhythm guitar) than first meets the ear and I actually really, really like the sloppy, drunken feeling of the intro. In fact, I'd say it has one of the best intros of the album. If the rest of the track held up as well as the intro, I feel like "Breakthrough" could have actually been a top track.

72. "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

I've gone through the lyrics of this song so many times and I've decided they seem to be up there with the most off-the-cuff and elusive of their repertoire. It's so interesting to me that "the orange julius song" used to be considered one of their best songs--hell, a lot of people still really like it and I'll probably get some shit for having it this low.

Anyways. The image of having teeth like God's shoeshine is a powerful one, as is the claustrophobic feeling from being caught between the ocean and the sky. I really like both of these ideas. Despite this, the track doesn't really give us any nice, classic Modest Mouse hooks to reel us in. Between that and the largely clashing instrumentals, I'd say it's an interesting track--but still in the bottom quarter of Modest Mouse songs when you consider how far they'd eventually come. 1997 was still so early on in their careers and I'm not one of those fans who think they peaked early.

Tier 4 -- Low-Key Gems

Even though I might have some aspects of these songs I'm critical of, starting with this tier, I really like all these songs.

71. "Be Brave" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

The single word I'd use to describe Strangers to Ourselves as a Modest Mouse album is wildcard. After their longest break between albums since forming in 1996, the album has a lot of highs, lows, and some in betweens. "Be Brave" is a clear in between. It's actually got a surprisingly positive chorus in the midst of cryptic, but certainly not optimistic, surrounding verses. The Be Brave's are forceful and demanding, at the expense of shoving the more subtle verses into the backseat. Not the most notable song on what isn't their most notable album, but this song is low-key a gem.

70. "Ionizes & Atomizes" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

To me, "Ionizes & Atomizes" stands out on this album as one of the few that doesn't seem to fit the motif of driving, traveling, life outside, and the like. It seems like it's a short story about a "she" and a "he" and their relationship. The she ionizes and atomizes, creating glorious sunlight. The he recognizes the beauty of sunlight and thinks about how much more he craves sunlight than the fluorescent light that will never compare. But it's the fluorescent light he's stuck with after she feels empty around him and leaves. The lyrics paint a surprisingly beautiful story for how short it is, even if it's not the most musically accessible track on the album. If the "literally the light I perceive every day isn't the same without you" idea doesn't appeal to you, though, then I'm going to just assume you don't like good music.

69. "What People Are Made Of" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

While not a melodic powerhouse, this song is really interesting. In a hilarious way, the lyrics essentially paint a picture about what human bodies are literally made out of: "They ain't made of nothin' but water and shit." In the scope of the universal motif of The Moon & Antarctica, Brock reminds us that we're all made from and live on old recycled materials from organisms that came before us. It's like a similar but opposite idea that we're all made from stardust. It's interesting how literal this song is, for the most part. Musically, I really like the low guitar rumble that closes out the song--it almost gives a serious sci-fi vibe. My biggest gripe is just how difficult it is to understand the high-concept vocals that really only shine when you take a closer look at the lyric book--it's nearly impossible to catch it all on a first listen.

68. "Dance Hall" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

This ranking might be a little divisive. Is this song really about anything besides dancing in a dancehall and singing about it angrily? Pound for pound, it's probably the most repetitive Modest Mouse song. We can only guess in the studio that Isaac Brock really liked the phrase "I'm gonna dance all dance hall every day" and said "well, that's it. That's the whole song. Someone write a guitar part."

67. "Invisible" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

The most iconic part of "Invisible" is the sick guitar intro--it's easily the highlight of the song. We'll see that time and time again in these rankings though--there's no shortage of excellent intros on this list. Besides that, though, I think "Invisible" is actually somewhat forgettable in the context of what's largely a melodically driven album. I think the idea of "not being invisible" in the lyrics can largely be taken as a statement that we have an impact on the world and the things around us (even more than we think), more so than as a statement of us physically being visible. Though somewhat cryptic, the song also contributes the idea that the ocean--referred to as "saline tea" here, if I'm not mistaken--has a very real, crushing power, both literally but also metaphorically as part of the earth around us. It's kind of all over the place, but this song isn't without its charm.

66. "Long Distance Drunk" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

I think a lot of people have a gripe with this song that it's either got too much repetition or that it's too boring or both, but I really don't mind that. Truthfully, it doesn't have as much to offer as a lot of fully-fledged Modest Mouse songs do, but I think there's something alluring about the sound in its simplicity. There really isn't any depth to the lyrics that we don't get from the title, which is a classic Isaac Brockism--a mashup of the idea of long distance calls with being a drunk. When's the drunk gonna hang it up? Now or never? I think we can assume the latter, most likely.

65. "Strangers to Ourselves" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

Modest Mouse clearly has a knack for writing interesting intros--here, it's a deep orchestral riff that kicks off the song and reoccurs throughout the track. Apart from this, "Strangers to Ourselves" never really picks up at all. I don't think it's unfair to call this lead and title track a little bit boring. Not much happens besides the deep strings (which are actually fairly pretty) and some somewhat interesting lyrics. Without following any kind of verse or chorus pattern, the two short verses seem to be anchored by the idea that we're lucky to not remember things, lest we live our whole life with regret. That's something to hold on to, at least.

64. "Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996)" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

"Pistol" is interesting because the first time I heard it, I immediately hated it. On my first listen through Strangers to Ourselves, "Pistol" stood out like a sore thumb and sounded so different than any Modest Mouse song I had ever heard--so much so that I was in shock. It's hard to overstate this, actually. It sounded so little like Modest Mouse and had such warped vocals, it became my least favorite Modest Mouse song on the spot. But this song will definitely grow on you if you aren't careful. It's captivating. It's also written from such a jarringly different perspective than anything else in their discography, which makes it hard to know what to make of it at first. I think Isaac Brock decided to warp the vocals so he didn't sound like himself--instead, he wanted to tell a creepy musical story from the perspective of Andrew Cunanan, who murdered 5 people in Florida in the 1990s and died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I don't know if I "get it" completely, but if nothing else, this might be Modest Mouse's single most unique song.

63. "The Stars Are Projectors" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

When I first learned Modest Mouse had a song called "The Stars are Projectors," I couldn't wait to hear it. And sadly I think it's a fine song, but it doesn't live up to the potential of the idea. It sounds so interesting on paper and in the lyric book, as it does shine lyrically. The 8-minute, subdued jamfest isn't as strong melodically as it is thematically, making it a decent track that's a great fit for the album. Looking at the deeper meaning, there's a lot to unpack here in such a fun way. From lines about everyone "wanting a double feature" and to "be their own damn teacher," to strong imagery of the stars and/or God projecting down onto us. There's talk of who God is, hardened and soft hearts, and a sarcastically funny "left wing, right wing, chicken wing" idea that to me says it might not matter the exact path you take, we're all just looking for the easiest and best life we can find. Finally, the song ends on a strong point with:

Was there a need for creation? 

That was hiding in a math equation and that's this 

Where do circles begin?

I can only assume he's talking about God and if and when he was created--a sort of paradox directed towards people who believe in God because it doesn't make sense for us to exist without a Creator. Which is a fair criticism, I think. I just only wish he offered it with vocals I could actually hear and understand. With a four minute outro (complete with turntables???), it seems like this song was intentionally made to not be easily digestible.

62. "Parting of the Sensory" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

I've heard people say "Parting of the Sensory" is one of Modest Mouse's best songs and I think that's absolutely bonkers. To their credit, it does end in such a cool and upbeat way after getting off to a slow, pensive start, and it has a great pessimistic powerline of "Aw, fuck it, I guess we lost" that creates a special moment on the album. In this song, we see a couple of classic Modest Mouse ideas like feeling hopeless because even if you do everything right, you'll still came up short in life--or asking a question about who the hell made God the boss. The song ends with Brock repeating "Someday you will die and somehow something's gonna steal your carbon" about 20 or so times. I actually really love this concept and the way it's put, and I'd argue it's an all time great MM line. While it's got some great key elements, the song isn't melodically driven at all which to me makes it a tougher listen. I guess put succinctly, there's so much value in this song, but it doesn't represent well what I personally like about Modest Mouse. What does, though? Well, just take a look down below.

61. "A Different City" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

The guitar intro to "A Different City" is a punch to the gut. Although this song is made up of one liners that seem loosely related, the one thing we know this song does mean for sure is that the writer wants to up and move--to live in a different city with no friends or family. Whether or not we can take that idea at face value, I'm not sure. That key concept aside, it seems like this song is mostly about wasting time (watching TV, for example) and comparing death to being given a receipt saying you didn't buy anything. A gut punch with a side of antisocial behavior and depression. Sounds like an average Modest Mouse track.

60. "I Came as a Rat" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

Of all the confusing lyrics Modest Mouse puts out, this song in particular is enigmatic to me. To be fair, I think sometimes Isaac Brock puts together strings of good sounding individual lines that are only mostly related in aim and not every line in a song deserves to be brought under a microscope/ evaluated literally for exact meaning. Everything doesn't mean everything. I think the general feeling of sloppiness and loose-fitting ideas together often give a song the meaning it has. Here, I personally think the list of things he "came as" is a list of things he came into the world as, not without some double meanings. For a list, he says he came as: ice, a whore, advice that came to sure, gold, crap, a call, flat, too soon (lol), back, flowers, nice, dirt, and a surprise. Throw in a bit on how God dies, but not before he "sticks it to you" and you've got a classically cryptic set of Modest Mouse lyrics about the good and bad of existence with a hint of being generally dismayed at God for creating us all.

59. "God Is an Indian and You're an Asshole" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

This song, though maybe confusing if taken at face value, is fantastically simple. Interestingly and notably, it's the only track on the album with lyrics that are not listed as being written by Isaac Brock--but rather, by the drummer Jeremiah Green. With all the drugs these guys do, I do think you shouldn't read too far into the literal meaning of the only lyrics in the song (which, by the way, consist solely of the line "God is an Indian and you're an asshole, get on your horse and ride"). If I had to take a quick crack at the meaning, I'd say "God is an Indian" is likely a reference to the comparison of God to an "Indian giver" for giving and taking away life from Good News. So my interpretation of this song is that to whoever this song is directed, the singer lyrics are saying, "screw God, fuck off, get the hell out of my face." But who knows, maybe the phrase just popped into their minds one drunken night and they liked just the sound of it.

58. "This Devil's Workday" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

If there's a Modest Mouse song that's creepy as hell, it's this one. It's actually remarkably alluring. It's very graphically about doing bad deeds, dead bodies, drowning--a day in the life of a devil, I suppose. The sound is intentionally brash and sloppy, which really just makes this song sound like a cool thought experiment brought to life. If nothing else, it's special how well the lyrics fit with the instrumentals to create a more complete idea. I'd also venture to say it's one of Modest Mouse's most unique songs on account of how confrontational both the lyrics and instrumentals are. The fact that this band can write a song with as much impactful imagery and perspective and not have it be in their top 50 songs is, frankly, baffling.

57. "We've Got Everything" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

To me, "We've Got Everything" is an interesting new take on the question "what's the point?" The answer? "We've got everything down to a science, so I guess we've got everything." The song is a little simple and doesn't shy away from repeating "we've got everything" quite a damn few times. To me, this song is a perfectly average Modest Mouse song, which means it's a very good song.

56. "Make Everyone Happy/Mechanical Birds" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

The beginning of "Make Everyone Happy" is so kind and peaceful. Lyrically, it's a beautiful little snippet of a conversation about facts, opinions, and making people (including yourself) happy. Although we get just a few lines of lyrics, I think there's a lot of meaning packed into the idea that "I'm not sure who I am, but I know who I've been." Then about three minutes in, the song picks up and completely changes into "Mechanical Birds." The guitars screech for the entire second half of the track to, offputtingly, albeit impressively, sound about as close to what you'd expect a mechanical bird could sound like using a guitar. I'd be lying if I said I completely got the purpose of the combination of these two songs, but I will say the first half is lovely and meaningful, while the second half is impressive in its own right, and certainly brash.

55. "Coyotes" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

Slow and simple, "Coyotes" is an interesting track. The song simultaneously is and isn't about coyotes--coyotes could reasonably be any animal to get the point across, I think--with the point being fairly straightforward in the lines "Mankind's behavin' like some serial killers, Giant ol' monsters afraid of the sharks." Isaac Brock really has a way of putting impactful ideas succinctly. It's musically fairly simple, which makes it somehow a more forgettable yet impactful track.

54. "People as Places as People" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

There are probably a lot of ways to interpret this song, but I found the title lines in this song to be fairly profound: "But we were the people that we wanted to know, and we're the places that we wanted go." To me, this idea of places and people is tied to our aspirations. At the end of the day, life is who we are, who we meet, where we go, and what we do. Here, Isaac Brock makes the assertion that although we have places we want to go and things we want to do, it's really the people right in front of us (perhaps even ourselves) that we meet and know that are worth a damn. To me, that's incredibly on point. Although the song is fairly middle of the road as far as Modest Mouse goes, I think the core idea here is anything but.

53. "Lounge" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

"Lounge" is unusual because it's the only Modest Mouse song that I think truly has a sequel. As a band, they constantly have running themes, reoccurring lines, and motifs, sure, but never a continuation under the same track name. A year after the first one debuted, the "Lounge" idea was continued on Lonesome Crowded West. Although I think the second "Lounge" is far superior, here we get its lo-fi, less exploratory, more repetitive younger brother. As far as the lyrics are concerned, we only get a few short verses despite the 6 minute run time; the story seems to be about a young couple meeting in a club, doing the deed in the back seat of the car, and neither of them being much better off for it. Not a bad little story. I do think that without "Lounge 2" to draw attention to and improve upon the first, this song might have slipped between the cracks and had less meaning.

52. "The Best Room" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

This track is... almost funky? What a genuine surprise. When picking this song apart, I realized it actually made a lot less sense than I had originally thought. There seem to be several stories and ideas going on, weaved into one. There's get well cards and upstairs neighbors and the novelist next door and the police tape that's around. At best, I think Isaac Brock is painting a wildly vivid picture of a specific scene from his memory staying in an apartment or hotel. At worst, I have no idea what the hell he's talking about, but it's still catchy.

51. "The Cold Part" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

One of Modest Mouse's biggest strengths as a band is their ability to really match up how a song 'feels' with what the song is about. This song feels so cold and slow--and you would still know that without the title and without the lyrics. I don't think this song has any particular depth to it as much as it's part of a larger concept on the album of space, god, life, coldness, and loneliness. I think it's kind of a neat track though.

50. "Florida" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

This song is kind of an enigma; people can't seem to decide if it's actually literally about Florida or not. Apparently, Isaac Brock did live in Florida for a stretch, and it's worth noting that Florida is about as far away as you can get from his home state of Washington (not just literally) inside the US. Regardless, "Florida" is pretty catchy and it seems to be moreso about leaving Florida and possibly getting high than about what Florida is like itself:

I wasn't always cargo 

I was once kind of my own 

I guess I'll pack up my mind 

It took so much effort 

Not to make an effort

I've heard in an interview that Isaac Brock is open about how since trying meth and certain inhalants, he feels like he's less sharp than he used to be. Taking that thought from the interview and combining it with the idea that it takes a lot of effort to have money to buy and do drugs just for the high, I think it's pretty reasonable to say that the above verse is entirely about drugs. But as I said: this song is kind of an enigma, and it's hard to be sure exactly what's being said. Overall, it's a fast yet not necessarily upbeat We Were Dead entry that I'd say still typifies an average track on the album.

Tier 3 -- Better and Best

There are no bad songs left at this point--only songs that are even better than others

49. "Wicked Campaign" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

Personally, I see "Wicked Campaign" as a fascinating case study into Modest Mouse song meanings. I think there are a lot of meaningful ideas here and clever pairings of lines, but it's hard to draw out an overall meaning. The song seems to be about recognizing yourself, meeting new people, watching them change, pretending you're better than you are so people don't hate you, starting arguments you can't win, and the like. I don't totally understand how this all ties into an idea of a 'Wicked Campaign' and I can't help but think 20 years in, sometimes Isaac Brock just doesn't have as much of a desire to put a pretty little bow on some of his song meanings. Not everything has to be polished and polished until you can see your own reflection. Still, the song is uniquely optimistic. Although it's somewhat forgettable from the album, musically I'd definitely put it in the top half of the album.

48. "Cowboy Dan" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

On an album with so many great moments and melodies, "Cowboy Dan" is just a slightly more mature brother of the other 6 minute darkness that is "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine." To me, their fates are tied together--you either love them or tolerate them. The clear highlight and takeaway power line of the song stumbles in around the 1:20 mark with the refrain:

Can't do it, not even if sober, 

Can't get that engine turned over 

Also, if you're anything like me, when you first scrolled through the track listing, this song immediately and curiously caught your eye. The backstory of alter egos and being given song ideas by mysterious strangers makes the lore behind this song legendary, though. But to me, even though I commonly hear this song to commonly be a crowd favorite, I think 1997 was anything but this band's peak.

47. "Satin in a Coffin" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

Firstly, I love the guitar picking intro. 10 seconds in and this song already sounds like a winner. As if you couldn't just tell from the title, "Satin in a Coffin" is one of the darker entries from Good News, an album which seems to be split down the middle between optimism and pessimism--or maybe more accurately, coping and falling apart. "Are you dead or are sleeping? God I sure hope you are dead" is incredibly dark and really doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?

46. "Lives" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

"If I had a nickel for every damn dime, I'd have half the time... do you mind?" is one of my all time favorite Isaac Brockisms. "Lives" is full of them, actually. So much so that the song doesn't especially tell much of story as much as it paints a picture--mostly about how bleak life can be. Interestingly, the song seems to follow a kind of three act format; about halfway through the song, we move on from the slow, melancholy act to an upbeat "It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember, to live before you die." Then, finally, the very end of the song reverts back to the same sound and lyrics we hear in the beginning. To me, it almost feels biploar, or representing the ups and downs of brief optimism being brought back towards realism.

45. "Shit Luck" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

I will say, there's nothing exactly like having this song come on while you're on a plane taking off--"THIS PLANE IS DEFINITELY CRASHING!" I've had it pop up on random organically on a plane before and it's a little unsettling--which I think is what the gut punch opening line is supposed to be. This song is definitely more self explanatory than most; it's called "Shit Luck" and it feels a whole lot like a plane crash. The guitar parts are dissonant and alternating, not unlike an ambulance effect we see on a few other tracks in early Modest Mouse. The song definitely works and is exactly what it's trying to be. Fast, angry, and doomed from the start.

44. "Steam Engenius" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

Although the song does seem a little gimmicky ('wahoo, wahooooo') and technological, the guitar riff is really awesome. A little over 4 minutes long, this track is absolutely packed with lyrics that are so diverse, it's hard not to feel like you're being pulled in several directions at once. I'd say the underlying theme, though, is hidden in plain sight in the title--it's about humans and their interactions with technology, perhaps an overreliance, and how silly that overreliance is. Like a rickshaw being pulled around by another rickshaw, you might say. Which is at least humous if not an effective image for this kind of commentary.

43. "Bury Me with It" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

It's interesting how much more Good News is explicitly about death than probably any of their other albums. The song keeps listing off ideas and concepts before returning to the refrain "bury me with it," ranging from old suits to the author's free time--to the idea of being buried with the end of the world or the end of a party. There's no single meaning of what the "it" is that he wants to be buried with. We do get the album title in the lyrics of this song, as well as one of my favorite lines in the album: "Life handed us a paycheck, we said, 'We worked harder than this!'" Although a lot of the lines make sense, it's hard to pull out a definitive overall message here. Nonetheless, I think the message is largely one of death (literal and metaphorical) and discontentment.

42. "Black Cadillacs" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

With all the death in this album, one can't help but wonder why the concept might have been so fresh on Isaac Brock's mind in 2004. This song sounds almost like a breakup until you consider the meaning of the explicitly mentioned Black Cadillacs outside a funeral. This really makes it sound more like a somewhat untimely, though not altogether tragic, yet still important enough death of someone he knew. Other than that, there are some great ideas throughout the track on the theme of death. It's a really catchy, stuttering song from a melodic standpoint which might seem at odds with the death motif, but the somewhat dark tone really makes it all work better than it does on paper. But then again, so does everything Modest Mouse does.

41. "Sugar Boats" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

If this creepy carnival piano intro didn't catch your attention on this record, I'm not sure what would. The rest of the song follows suit, with the distant trumpet part and generally dark yet upbeat feel. The lyrics, however, focus much more on a few specific ideas: how this "rock of ours is just a big mistake," a drug reference or two, and a seeming discontent with someone (referred to really only as "you") and their relationship. I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly what a sugar boat was or how it connects exactly, but I don't think that's necessary to enjoy a unique song from Modest Mouse such as this. Although this can be said of a lot of songs by this band, this song really does seem to have a unique stamp on it that we haven't seen anywhere else from them.

40. "Fly Trapped in a Jar" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

I won't lie, I don't enjoy the sound of a fly buzzing in and out of my ear(phones) as I start this track. But more than that, I'm embarrassed to say that for the first dozen or so listens I didn't realize it seems to be the guitar/instrumentals that are mimicking a fly, which is actually really impressive. The core idea in this song seems to be general discontentment with what we've been given in this life--"one wing isn't even enough, isn't even enough to leave," Isaac Brock takes no time to state. We were doomed from the start. We're the fly trapped in the jar and he isn't happy about it.

By far my favorite part of this song is the breakdown. It's so damn good. It's funky, it's on point, and we even get a preview of what Isaac Brock would be like if he tried his hand as a rapper. I could listen to just the breakdown on repeat. We don't get breakdowns enough from these guys, so appreciate them when you get them.

39. "Spitting Venom" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

Although I might underrate this track by a lot of Modest Mouse fans' standards, "Spitting Venom" does have one of the most interesting melodies with the continuous "du-va" offbeat guitar and vocals. I'd say that's the best musical aspect of this song. Other than that, it's certainly a lot of chaos and seems to lack a lot of signature Modest Mouse elements (guitar bending, lyrics about the intricacies of life/death/the universe). Instead, "Spitting Venom" seems to be much more about a particular relationship and tends to have more repetitive and less progressive moments. Disappointingly, there's no solid all time classic Isaac Brockisms to be found in the lyircs, either, which makes it curious to me that this one is often considered an all time favorite. And although I like the trumpet solo (well, the 8 repeated trumpet notes at least), the fact that it's 8 minutes long with loud whispering under the trumpet in the outtro really take the emphasis on how good the lyrics are on the back third of the track. How can you like the vocals and what they say if you can't even hear them? I guess I've offered mostly criticisms here despite this song being really good, but that's because I feel the need to confusingly justify why I have this song pegged at #39 instead of the top 3.

38. "Ansel" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

You might not be able to tell on first listen, but "Ansel" is actually a surprisingly personal track. From what I gathered from my internet sleuthing, in 2004 Isaac Brock lost his brother Ansel in an avalanche on Mt. Rainier. The lyrics deal with Isaac thinking back on the last time he had seen his brother as his family gets the news. The track is more straightforward in its storytelling than most Modest Mouse songs, but when dealing with something personal, it doesn't really make sense to dance around it. The story speaks for itself. It seems to me the main question Isaac seems to want to leave us with is "how the hell would you know" how things might some day end with a loved one? Who would have guessed a random trip to New Mexico might be the last time you'd see your brother? Who expects to ever lose their brother to an avalanche? Quite a profound reminder of how fleeting life is, and how relationships can disappear in an instant.

37. "Wild Packs of Family Dogs" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

Although some might consider this track to be too simple to be an all-time great Modest Mouse song, I was always drawn to it. I will admit, there's things I don't understand about it; I'm not sure what makes a pack of wild dogs a family, for example. However, the stories in this song are brief and very straightforward--it's the overall meaning that is a little more cryptic. Through the stories in the verses, we hear about a the family dog running away, a sister being eaten by wild dogs, and dad losing his job. Loss, essentially, and the numb, 'puttin' on a brave face' reaction to get through it. It may be a pensive, short narrative about family tragedy, but I think there's plenty to like about it.

36. "Lampshades on Fire" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

In retrospect, the releasing of We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank in 2008 seemed to mark the end of an era for Modest Mouse. Looking back on the discography now from the more distant future, the gap seems as real as ever. The Modest Mouse we have now in 2022 is not the same band we had in 2015, an that band is not who we had in 2008. But the seven years between We Were Dead and Strangers marks the longest break between albums the band would ever have (well, so far). For a handful of purported drug addicts, they really asked a lot from us by making us wait 8 years for our next Modest Mouse fix. 

Enter "Lampshades on Fire" in all it's spectacularly wild imagery and glory, the single from Strangers to Ourselves. It actually got some radio play back in 2015, which after so many years was a sight (or sound, I suppose) to behold. Although with more of a pop sound, the meaning really seems to focus on the attitude of humans as a whole. "It's fine, we've still got light," we remark, although the bulb has since burned and the lampshade itself ignites. The title might sound genuinely silly, but the metaphor is perfectly apt to me.

35. "Jesus Christ Was an Only Child" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

Although it seems to me that the historical jury is still out on if Jesus was literally an only child, it's kind of a funny idea to think of him coming of age and, perhaps, being a little shit at times. I know that's not going to fall in with Christian canon, but Isaac Brock presumably thought it was a funny enough of an idea to base a song on. Although Jesus seems to be the focus of the song at first, that idea does quickly fade--there's two or three other ideas here that to me don't seem to have much to do with Jesus, like making money while sitting on your ass or a character named Penny that we don't get to know much about. The clear power line here, oft repeated, is the "I know now what I knew then, but I didn't know then what I know now" that Brock somewhat screams with some authority. If nothing else, I think the violin part is fantastic and probably the best we'd get out of any Modest Mouse song--they even give the violin the classic Modest Mouse outro. It's on the more simple side, but it's certainly alluring and catchy.

34. "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

To start, "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" has an awesome bassline throughout and is very dark as a result. This seems to fit pretty well with the apocalyptical/life ending theme of the lyrics and the mostly calm and monotone vocals, with some raised screaming parts here and there. The line about the world being his ashtray is incredibly punk rock, and I really like the thought as a whole. That's definitely how humans treat the world. And if there really is a future some day where all the cities will literally be burning and made of ashes, I think calling the world God's ashtray at that point is not only funny but on point.

33. "March Into the Sea" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

In the opening glimpse to We Were Dead, we already feel like we're at sea. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but the biggest strength Modest Mouse has as a band is that, for any given subject matter, their songs always sound exactly like what they ought to based on the lyrics, titles, and meanings. Couple that with the fact that they write songs with subject matter and instrumentation that's specifically unique to them as a band, and you can see exactly why they have the cult following they do. "March Into the Sea" is a prime example of this. I've never in my life heard a song that sounded like this one and I presume I never will will again. I know I've spent this entire review talking about how good Modest Mouse is as a whole and not necessarily this song, but this song so well typifies them as a band that I'm really not sure what else to say other than I love it.

32. "Lounge (Closing Time)" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

I don't imagine I'll get much pushback on this, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that even in a sea of excellent intros, this track has the single best intro out of any Modest Mouse song. It's so good, and I don't think it's particularly close. If the rest of the song lived up to it, it'd be an easy top 5 song. That's not to say it isn't still a great song, but I don't really see it as one of their all time greats. But anyways. True to the title, it functions as the second half of an unfinished idea of a song about a hangout/lounge from the previous album (see #53 "Lounge" if you need a reminder) but this time it's about a bar at closing time. More than being about the discontentment of looking for love in a club from the first "Lounge," this entry is more about the passion, the dirtiness, and scramble of looking for someone to head home with before it's too late. Together, they paint two separate pictures that come together to form a single story of the booze-infused, looking-for-love moments that a lot of us can relate to on some level.

31. "Heart Cooks Brain" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

"Heart Cooks Brain" is an interesting take on an age old problem of heart vs brain. It's very rhythmic, kinda slow, and alluringly pensive. We get some interesting lines, several of which sound similar like, "My brain's the cliff, and my heart's the bitter buffalo" or "My brain's the burger, and my heart's the coal." It's definitely a dance, if not a competition, between our logic and our feelings to see who wins out with action. Although it's more about the give and the take, the push and the pull... I'd say this song is about what happens when the heart wins and we give in to desire, resulting in the heat of passion burning up all logic. 

 

30. "Fire It Up" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

Did you ever have an album you just put on while you did something as a kid? Oh, the joys of CD players and not having a playlist to shuffle through all your music. As a teen, We Were Dead was one of those albums for me. The number of times I threw it on while playing old school video games makes it impossible to dissociate the two in my mind. As such, I can't truly think of "Fire It Up" purely in and of itself without thinking back angrily on how frustrating Snowboard Kids 2 is on the N64. All this might be a pointless anecdote, but I hope you relate to this level of profoundly associating music with non-music things on some level. Because more than anything, more than any musical or lyrical analysis, that's what this song is to me.

29. "Perfect Disguise" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

Although it's largely slow with soothing with drawn out background vocals, "Perfect Disguise" is a relatively short track about getting stabbed in the back (read: exposing someone in their perfect disguise and finding out what they truly look like). Whatever happened before is unclear, but the end result is how the author now sees the person with the perfect disguise compared to how they used to see them: "from the bottom of the best to the worst." I've also really liked the idea that, after no longer liking this person, Isaac Brock remarks that he doesn't "give a damn about you or this town no more" because I've found that relatable on a certain level. To me, this reads as either a) he strongly associates this person with the town so much so that he can't separate the two or b) the only thing he liked about the town was this person and now that that's gone... well yeah. Either way, it's a strong idea to anchor a simple song with relatively few lyrics.

28. "Bankrupt on Selling" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997) 

I honestly did not understand this song until I really took a dive into the lyrics and realized the subtle beauty Isaac penned here. Set uncharacteristically to a slower acoustic guitar part, the song laments about how church leaders sell their savior for metaphorical gold, and businessmen "in their unlimited Hell" buy and sell trash to each other despite hating doing it. Although you might think this is a typical Modest Mouse verse against religion and meaningless aspects of society, this one somehow feels deeper than that. Maybe it's the tone in instrumentals, or sad sounding vocals. Or perhaps it's how personal Isaac Brock tells the story in the latter half of the song, talking about going to college for prideful reasons and how he still loves a girl, but loved her more "when she used to be sober and I was kinder." To me, this song seems to ache for a more perfect world where people (himself included, importantly) aren't so morally bankrupt and willing to sell each other out. This song longs for a better kind of love and a more perfect world--and I think that's what makes it special. This is an underrated Modest Mouse song if I've ever heard one.

Tier 2 -- Superbly Sublime

27. "Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice on Ice, Alright" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997) 

Although it should be obvious from the title, it took me a few listens to realize this song is quite clearly two halves of two separate songs put together. The "Styrofoam Boots" front half is fantastic and a brilliant lo-fi jam. To me, the reference to boots, the mafia, and floating like Jesus is fairly straightforward--it's a juxtaposition of the cement boots the mafia might use to kill/bury you in water and the metaphorical styrofoam boots that could cause you to float (i.e. fly up to heaven). The next line I find genuinely funny in which Isaac says "I'm in heaven...Trying to figure out which stack they're going to stuff us atheists into." So no, I don't think he's literally expecting to find heaven--he's dying laughing at how complicated judgement will be. How will God judge nonbelievers that are good people?

Anyways, lyrics aside, "Styrofoam Boots" is really cool imagery and is a nice little ditty. The song is roughly split in half when the drum beat drops, with the "It's All Nice on Ice, Alright" being the only lyrics in the last three minutes of the song. I kinda wish they were separate tracks so I could like the first half and shit on the simplicity of a 3 minute, lyric-repeating outro, but alas. You can't have one without the other.

26. "Bukowski" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

If I had to choose just one, I'd say this song seems to be perhaps the flagship of atheism for this Modest Mouse band who, if you haven't been following along, obviously portrays themselves as largely atheist. I've never read any Bukowski for myself, but anyone who's familiar with both his work and Modest Mouse as a band shouldn't be surprised at all that there are parallels and perhaps some inspiration drawn by the latter from the former. The impressive thing about the lyrics Isaac Brock writes here is that he simultaneously seems very critical of God, yet it's hard to disagree with the lyrics. Even if you're a believer, at worst you should be able to understand his perspective. He calls God an Indian giver (I think we can forgive a song from 2004 some slack for not being PC) because the life he gives, he also takes away. Do we really need to thank God for only lending us life? Especially if it's not a life we enjoy and didn't willingly opt into? Interesting to think about--certainly a different perspective than the one I was raised with. I'd also love to see someone who's actually read the Old Testament try to argue that God isn't a control freak, as Brock asserts. I can't say I fall in line with everything they say here, but the meaning behind this song is definitely one of the strongest we've ever see from this band. Certainly the most confrontational, at least.

25. "Little Motel" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

I know I've raved a few times about different Modest Mouse songs being incredibly unique, but "Little Motel" truly is one of a kind. Firstly, it's perhaps the only song they have that's truly, through and through, a breakup song--most of their songs don't really have much to do with love or relationships or at least aren't explicit about it. But even apart from that, "Little Motel" is such a slow, sad, yet stunningly beautiful song. Despite this, it's woven perfectly yet uniquely into the We Were Dead tapestry as the lyrics don't shy away from comparing the breakup to a sinking ship; not a bad metaphor, honestly, especially in the context of the album.

24. "Novocain Stain" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996) 

To me, the beauty in this song can be summed up simply with the concise lyrics/poetry/commentary that Modest Mouse cuttingly gives us in the last verse before the outro:

More housing developments go up, 

named after the things they replace... 

So welcome to Minnow Brook, 

and welcome to Shady Space

That's some powerful irony. With dissonant background vocals and forceful guitar, Modest Mouse really drives the point home with those lines followed by a two minute outro--or, as I like to think of it, they give us two minutes to dwell on that idea. With them being from small town Washington, it's hard not to hear their annoyance with humans cluelessly destroying beautiful spaces in nature to build their own shit. For how brash the song is on the surface, I think it's overall surprisingly elegant.

23. "The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

I think, more than anything, what's so likable about "The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box" is how much it sounds like a true, classic Modest Mouse track after all these years. If there's a criticism to be had for Strangers to Ourselves, it's that while the recording quality increased over the years, the band began to sound less and less like themselves. Although this track sounds a little more over-produced with the background horns and strings, you could reasonably convince me this song belongs on the We Were Dead album that was such a hit 8 years prior. I think my favorite idea here, lyrically, is that the world is an inventor and we're the dirtiest thing it ever created. Never have I heard evolution and pollution put this way before, but by now, unique perspective on old problems is expected on a given Modest Mouse track.

22. "Ocean Breathes Salty" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

I couldn't ever say for certain that a cover of a Modest Mouse song could ever be better than the original, but I must say that I love the Pickin' On Series cover of this song and how they use bluegrass to spruce it up and make it a little more accessible. If you've never listened to their covers, I highly recommend giving their Modest Mouse album a shot.

Anyways, although it's a monster of a song from a lyrical standpoint, I think it can best be summed up with two lines: a) "maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again, well I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, don't think so" and b) "You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?" The theme clearly seems to be a nonbeliever's take on death, the afterlife, and the relationship between the two. The song also seems more directed towards a believer, or at least entertains (perhaps sarcastically) the idea that there's a chance they're right. For such a serious topic and such a classically important conversation, the song is remarkably playful. In other words, it's not just par for the Modest Mouse course; I think they shot a birdie here.

21. "Float On" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

What is there to say about perhaps the only song a lot of non-Modest Mouse fanatics have probably heard by this band? There's a bit of disagreement among long time fans over exactly how much Modest Mouse sold out (if at all) over this track and album. Why is that?

Well for one, just listen to literally any Modest Mouse album, or even the rest of this album, and tell me how out of place the line "I backed my car into a cop car the other day. Well, he just drove off, sometimes life's okay" sounds. Relative to their average messaging, this is grossly optimistic. But, I'd argue that even though it flew under the filtered "everything is great, everything is okay" pop music banner, this song is a lot more pessimistic than it sounds. Since when is floating through life a good thing? Why are we glorifying something so passive? To me, the message is much less "wow, things are really working out for me!" and much more "well, I guess in the end things don't really matter, even the bad things--because life still floats on." From an instrumentation standpoint, the track is definitely written to be more pop and less experimental and interesting. It still seems to me, though, that even though this song might not represent Modest Mouse well, it's still a good song.

20. "Doin' the Cockroach" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

So for starters, what the hell does it mean to "do the cockroach?" I think once I understood what Isaac Brock was getting at with this phrase (well, my interpretation at least), I really started to appreciate it for how good it is under the surface. In my interpretation, Isaac sees the human race as doing the cockroach. What do cockroaches do? They overstay their welcome. They invade, they intrude, they scuttle about and insist on existing. They also carry the burden of existing. What an aptly dark metaphor that perfectly illustrates how Modest Mouse sees existence. Notably, Brock doesn't just apply this meaningless prolonging of existence to humanity, but also to himself on a personal level. With this message in mind, this song impressively sounds exactly like what you'd expect a song about this kind of "Doin' the Cockroach" would--fast, scuttling riffs, angry vocals, yet catchy and effective guitar parts. I'd call it an upbeat, well-rounded, meaningful song at best and an acquired taste at worst.

19. "The World at Large" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

Both one of the slowest and most thoughtful on the album, "The World at Large" is a very relatable song. It's about drifting through life, being uncertain, and trying to move on from the past. If you don't look closely, you might not realize exactly how perfect of a lead-in this track is to "Float On," which is next on the album. "Float On" does seem largely optimistic (and certainly is by Modest Mouse's standards), but as we discussed a few songs up, the phrase "Float On" that actually appears in "The World at Large" first is much more passive nihilism than active optimism. There's next to nothing active about floating through life's river, which is really what this song is about. Floating. Existing. Surviving. In the next track, we'll get some circumstances that make life seem not only bearable, but actively amusing or interesting. But before we get there on the album, "The World at Large" says that even though I've chosen to be here drifting and traveling and changing, deep down "I know that starting over's not what life's about"--yet here I am doing just that. 

18. "The View" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

It's really hard to sum up what "The View" is about in a way that's more impactful or succinct than Isaac Brock did himself: 

As life gets longer, awful feels softer. 

Well it feels pretty soft to me. 

And if it takes shit to make bliss,

Then I feel pretty blissfully.

...

If life's not beautiful without the pain, 

Well I'd just rather never ever even see beauty again. 

These are some all time great Modest Mouse lyrics. Can life be beautiful without pain? Is the beauty we see and experience in life worth the pain of existence? Is life worth it? Although I've wondered if these lines are more specifically about the double edged sword of drug abuse, it's interesting to me that Isaac Brock here answers these questions with a "no." It's worth noting, though, that these lyrics don't come from a person resigned to suicide or anything quite that dark. These are the lyrics of a person who's experienced much more bad than good and would hope to ride out his life in peace rather than experience the painful rollercoaster of life one more time. I mean, seriously. Who else even writes music like this?

Tier 1 -- That top shelf shit

Nearly every song in the top 20 or so feels like a top 5 song because they're all so damn good. But I guess that's not how a top 5 works, is it?

17. "Dark Center of the Universe" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

In a word, this song is quintessential. There's few songs that represent Modest Mouse in all their glory better than "Dark Center of the Universe." As the third track of the powerful 1-2-3 punch that starts out The Moon and Antarctica, it's not hard to understand why this is a fan favorite.

It's a funny little idea to picture an average band trying to seriously write a song called "Dark Center of the Universe." How many bands could actually pull that off without embarrassing themselves? Modest Mouse does not only that, but actively thrives in this element they've built for themselves. They're serious in discussing, yet tongue in cheek along the way, the nature of the universe while holding a generally negative disposition towards God. Does that sound like any other band than Modest Mouse? But on a deeper level, this song is, sure, about the universe, but really moreso about how life and people will "fuck you over." It's about the meaning (or lack thereof) you may find in the end of your life. It's simple, both in lyrics and in sound--relatively speaking, of course. I think the best lines really speak for themselves:

Well it took a lot of work to be the ass that I am 

And I'm pretty damn sure that anyone can 

Easily, equally fuck ya over 

Well God said something but he didn't mean it 

Everyone's life ends but no one ever completes it

Like a lot of good Modest Mouse lyrics, there's a lot packed into every line, especially that last one. The magic formula for the best Modest Mouse lyrics usually consists of taking an idea that's not necessarily unique to them and completely transforming it, perhaps turning it on its head, to put it succinctly in a way you've never heard it before. They could have just said "everyone dies," but no--that's not poetic enough for a nihilistically master class band like Modest Mouse. Instrumentally, this track is also a wild ride--it's borderline peaceful and simple at times, then fast and chaotic at other times. I don't think you'd be amiss to look into how those changes mirror the deeper meaning we find in the lyrics, too.

16. "Pups to Dust" (Strangers to Ourselves, 2015)

So this one might be a bit of a wildcard to a lot of people--I haven't really heard any love for this song and it's not really on an album that was universally beloved by Modest Mouse fans. But after a few listens through this album, I found "Pups to Dust" to be a surprising gem. A diamond in the rough. The guitar part is simple and doesn't demand attention, but it's still distinct and one of my all time favorites. There's also some humorous (or, at least, I find them humorous) call and response in the singing that's very uncharacteristic of Modest Mouse:

We remain the same (I'm not sure about that) 

Or pretty much the same (Now that's more like it) 

From birth to grave, I couldn't see so clearly what I was or became 

Oh, I missed a spot (Scrubba scrubba scrubba scrubba)

It's playful. It's fun. Kind of like this song as a whole. It's got such a weird sounding title that it almost doesn't make sense that this song is so good. But maybe the weird title fits after all because of how light-hearted the whole track is. 

Anyways, it doesn't help that we don't get too much clarification on what it means to be/ go from "Pups to Dust" in the lyrics outside the opening line saying simply that our hearts don't change from pups to dust. But even in it's relative light-heartedness, Isaac Brock still threw us a few serious lines with some great takeaways, probably the chief among them could be an entire song itself: "The way we feel about what we do is by who has watched us." That's a nice line to chew on.

15. "Dramamine" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

"Dramamine" is the clear standout track from Long Drive, with it's only competition being the two other remaining songs from the album that are ranked lower (scroll down to #7 and #8 see). As the album opener of their debut album, I'd like to think if I was listening to Modest Mouse from the beginning back in 1996 that this song would be the moment I'd realize I found something special. It's definitely a slower track and the guitar part is largely repetitive. We also get one of their best second-half-of-the-song jam session fadeouts with some excellent guitar solos, which will always fit well with the Long Drive aspect of the album. It seems obvious in retrospect that this was a great opening track for the band since this song has long had a reputation for being a great representation of who and what this band called Modest Mouse is. Just give it a listen and you'll understand.

14. "Out of Gas" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

This one might also be a bit of a wildcard because I know a lot of people tend to not like Modest Mouse's more repetitive songs, but the chorus here just so good. To be sure, there's not a lot of depth to the lyrics in "Out of Gas," and it could reasonably be argued it's a fine album contributor with a continuation of the being out west/driving themes the band was known for early in their career. A constant repeating of "You will come down soon too, You will come down too soon" might not be a fan favorite, but to me it's just so catchy. I guess this one might be objectively harder to justify as to why I love it so much, but I just love the way it sounds. But what more can you ask out of your music than that anyways?

13. "Paper Thin Walls" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

The guitar intro to "Paper Thin Walls" is one of my all-time favorites. I'm not going to cheapen it by trying to describe it--you've just go to hear it to appreciate it. Anyways, with a relatively obvious metaphor hanging from the title, this song seems to be about what it's like to be human and have other people up in your business. Haven't you ever wished you could go out in public without everyone seeing you, hearing you, judging you? What you're wearing, what you're saying, and other things you can't control? Everyone's a voyeurist, everyone is constantly watching, and the walls to life are so thin that people can always hear what's happening in your life one way or another. I can't imagine how much worse it would be for someone who's a bit of a celebrity in a popular band. Still, though, the song is somehow playful in its upbeat sound, so you'd better be sure to laugh hard--it's a long way to the bank, after all.

12. "Gravity Rides Everything" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

Track two in the 1-2-3 punch that starts out The Moon & Antarctica, "Gravity" starts out wonderfully acoustic and branches into lovely rhythmic electric guitars by the end of the first verse. Although not classically structured with a chorus and verses, what I'd consider the chorus has a great opening line that's mirrored throughout: "In the motions and the things that you say, it all will fall, fall right into place." I think even more than the words themselves, it's this particular melody that makes this line sound sound so reassuring. Gravity will never abandon us. But I also don't think gravity is just gravity in this case.

Although the theme of gravity is a reasonably strong motif for a universe and space themed album, the metaphor of gravity as fate guiding us forward is just as apt: the album is just as much about our struggles as people and and our struggles with existence. Although it's perhaps a touch more optimistic than what we'd normally come to expect from Modest Mouse, the "falling into place" is a sweet sentiment in what I consider a instrumentally aesthetically pleasing song. 

Also, it was used in a car commercial once??? That blew my mind while researching.

11. "Education" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

"Education" is a particularly special track to me because it was one of the earliest Modest Mouse songs I ever heard. While it's got a very unique sound, I don't think it's particularly easy to listen to. It's a little rough around the edges. But as such, "Education" played a big role in me personally coming around to the innovatively dissonant, angry, and sloppy but somehow carefully crafted sound the band is known for. It's at least partially responsible for helping me acquire my Modest Mouse taste. My favorite moment in the song, apart from the killer guitar part, always came from one particular verse:

Hardly education 

All them books I didn't read

They just sat there on my shelf 

Looking much smarter than me

Hearing those lines for the first time as a dumb high schooler hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe it's not enough just to own the books, maybe learning actually takes effort. But pushing that line a little further, I loved how much smarter the books look than the guy who owns but never read them. That was just funny enough in a self deprecating yet subtle way that I've always loved this track.

10. "Blame It on the Tetons" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

One of the all time great slow jams, I've always thought this Modest Mouse song was special the first time I heard it. Easily the biggest standout in this song is the beautiful piano part throughout, but especially in the outro. Accompanying that excellent piano part is also an awesome strings part--which forms a rare combo for a Modest Mouse song. Also in the outro we get the best and most pointed lyrics in the song:

Everyone's a building burning 

With no one to put the fire out. 

Standing at the window looking out, 

Waiting for time to burn us down. 

Everyone's an ocean drowning 

With no one really to show how. 

They might get a little better air 

If they turned themselves into a cloud.

Although these lines in particular sound pretty pessimistic, I think the larger takeaway from this song is that, sure, in life we all go through some major shit--but it's finding meaning in that shit and persisting to the parts that aren't as shit that give it meaning. It has a lot to do with the human condition and who we blame for our decisions and our shortcomings--our being a "burning building," so to speak. Whether the Tetons are the Grant Tetons, the Native American tribe (which always seemed right to me), or literal--as translated, mind you--tits, I don't think it really matters so long as we have someone else to blame for our problems.

9. "Dashboard" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

Just as much as "Float On," I've always considered "Dashboard" to have a very mainstream sound appeal--more than you'd usually expect from Modest Mouse. But unlike "Float On," the lyrics here sound much more authentic--they're much more complex and not overly optimistic and accessible. The reoccurring refrain "The dashboard melted, but we still have the radio" sounds like such a Modest Mouse outlook on life--kind of like "we've got the land but they've got the view." It's a contrast of some things being okay, but clearly not ideal in the face of a disaster. It's survival. Pair that with one of the all time greatest Modest Mouse guitar riffs in the intro and you've got a certified banger.

8. "Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

"Talking Shit" is such an incredible song. I'm absolutely floored by how good it is and how much Modest Mouse personality it has for it being on their debut album--it's much better than almost all of the other tracks on their debut album, too. Like you'd expect from a song about pretty sunset, it's got a beautiful sound--from the chord progression to the lyrics to the ooooohhhhh's. Of course, this is a Modest Mouse song after all. We can't just have nice things. There needs to be a foil somewhere, and in this case, it's listed in the title and it's self inflicted: needlessly shit talking something that's pretty. Of course, in our recognizing our self inflicted wounds, we also get regret. Besides the title, we also get this regret in lines about tying our own noose too tight and "blanketing opinions that I'll probably regret soon." The 90 second outro is absolutely gorgeous as well--what's not to love?

7. "Custom Concern" (This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996)

If nothing else, this song really opened up my mind to the dreariness and potential depression that growing up can be while I was at a young age. I still remember the standout line from the first time I heard the song where Isaac Brock unexcitedly sings out "Gotta go to work, gotta go to work, gotta get a job." Although this track is four short verses with no chorus, it has a lot to say. Firstly, what a strong criticism it is to tell people that we, as people, are needlessly building towers and buildings and monuments and steeples with their primary purpose being "to wear out our eyes." I don't think Isaac Brock looks highly on industrialism with it's needlessly tall buildings and parking lots being built by pummeling the earth's natural beauty. If the man was a politician or a business man, I might not take it at face value--but as an artist and a poet, Isaac Brock has an abundance of credibility. On a similar note, the disassociation we see in the lyrics is especially strong: 

I get up just about noon 

My head sends a message for me 

To reach for my shoes then walk 

Gotta go to work, gotta go to work, gotta get a job

This man sounds nothing if not trapped. Although written in 1996, how relatable is that, especially today? If you ask me, this song holds up as well or better than anything else from Modest Mouse's debut album.

6. "Trailer Trash" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

"Trailer Trash" is absolutely beautiful. It's the most raw song Isaac Brock has ever written and it's also the best storytelling we get in any Modest Mouse song ever. Although he never shies away from putting his personality into a song, "Trailer Trash" is a glimpse into Isaac Brock's soul--which he chooses to show us through a lyrical exploration of his childhood we can't get anywhere else. If I haven't said it plain enough and you don't already know, if you're reading this, you need to understand that this song is special.

Although I didn't grow up in a trailer with a single parent, I find this song relatable. If every Modest Mouse song was a TV show, "Trailer Trash" would be a more serious version of Malcolm in the Middle. More than anything, to me this song says that being poor affects every aspect of your life and it says so powerfully from a firsthand account. I mean, the title of the song lets you know it's going to be about what it's like being trash from a trailer park. The opening line paints a vivid picture of eating snowflakes using plastic forks and a paper plates, as if there's any satiety to be found in eating snowflakes, and as if there's no more reasonable thing to eat them with than the cheapest utensils available. Yeah, this vulnerable track is about poverty and broken homes.

Eating snow flakes with plastic forks 

And a paper plate of course

You think of everything 

Short love with a long divorce 

And a couple of kids of course 

They don't mean anything 

Live in trailers with no class 

God damn, I hope I can pass 

High school means nothing 

Taking heartache with hard work 

God damn, I am such a jerk

I can't do anything

What a strong image we get to see painted here. Welcome to Isaac Brock's childhood and adolescence. The lyrics are much more complete and straightforward in meaning and story, but I think it's because of how important the subject matter is. The lack of mystery creates a more vivid picture.

I could go on about this song, but to wrap it up, it's worth noting this is one of Modest Mouse's strongest examples of the subject matter working perfectly with the sound of the instrumentals. It's strong, but sad. It's desperate and it's depressed. It's got the best use of a long outro out of any song they've ever written as the last 2+ minutes jams out and solos sentimentally. What's it like to grow up poor, disgraced, looked down on, hungry, discontent, and from a broken family? That's the question this song answers, and it answers it authentically.

5. "The Good Times Are Killing Me" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

I've speculated more than a few times in reviewing the past 85 songs about which songs are directly or indirectly about drugs. But here, Modest Mouse is at their most explicit on the subject. They even go so far as to name meth, PCP, coke, etc. by name. So yes. This song is about drugs, which are the good times that are so obviously killing him. Although plenty of their songs are, this one isn't hard to figure out.

Although simple songs might be a little more on the boring side for some fans, especially when compared to their chaos rock jam sessions we've seen throughout the years, I think a simply put song with simple instrumentation can sometimes be the most charming. I know this song is simple. I still think it's one of their best.

On a more personal note, even though this song is about drugs, this song will always remind me of high school and the good times I had with my friends. That's the era I first heard it and those memories are tied inseparably with this song in my mind. Although not the intended meaning at all, this song has a completely different meaning to me than it does on paper. The good times of the past are killing me with how wonderful yet distant those memories are. For everything it is and for what it doesn't even try to be, this song really hits home.

4. "Missed the Boat" (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007)

I've talked a lot about beauty and pretty songs in this writeup, but if song takes the cake for being such, it's certainly "Missed the Boat." From the opening guitar intro to the "such and such and such" and "shake shake shake shake shake" to the wonderful chorus harmonies, all the awesome little moments in this song come together better than any other. Take the opening verse, for example:

Looking towards the future 

We were begging for the past 

Well, we knew we had the good things 

But those never seemed to last 

Oh, please just last

This is what "Missed the Boat" is about. The good things that don't seem to last. Building dams out of ideas that hold no water. Being only "pretty certain" that you're uncertain. The term "word play" doesn't seem to quite cover what Isaac Brock does so many times in these lyrics because he's not just playing; he's manipulating masterfully in a way that consistently one-ups our expectations from one line to the next. There's setups and punchlines, sure. But nobody tells them like this man does, and especially in this particular song.

3. "Polar Opposites" (The Lonesome Crowded West, 1997)

If you ask me--which, you're here, so you kind of are--"Polar Opposites" is a criminally underrated song. Similar to "The Good Times are Killing Me," the greatness of "Polar Opposites" is in its simplicity. The lyrics aren't complicated and the riffs aren't layered and bendy and angry. This track is a prime example of the genius that is Modest Mouse manifesting through being accessible and digestible. How many bands do you know who are willing to admit they're just trying to trying to "drink away the part of the day that [they] cannot sleep away." If you're looking for a complicated jamfest we so often get from Modest Mouse, you'll have to look elsewhere--one of their best songs of all time is this surprisingly upbeat yet simple admission of drinking, self-loathing, and depression.

2. "3rd Planet" (The Moon & Antarctica, 2000)

"3rd Planet" is pure magic. It's wizardry. People just don't write songs that sound like this. People don't say the things Isaac Brock penned here. Even isolated from the fact that it's a fantastic piece of a fantastic Moon & Antarctica puzzle, "3rd Planet" rocks on an existential level. Just take the opening verse, which also functions as the opening verse to the album:

Everything that keeps me together is falling apart 

I've got this thing that I consider my only art 

Of fucking people over 

My boss just quit the job 

Says he's going out to find blind spots 

And he'll do it 

The third planet is sure that they're being watched 

By an eye in the sky that can't be stopped 

When you get to the promised land 

You're gonna shake that eye's hand

There's almost too much to pick apart here. There's so much meaning and imagery packed into every line. In the opening verse, we've gone from claiming the only thing we're good at in the world is fucking over other people to people trying to dodge out of God's judgement to pigeonholing God to simply the "eye in the sky" that Christian people would have you believe He is.

And that's just the opening verse. "3rd Planet" doesn't relent. The rest of the verses are filled just as much imagery. Perhaps most notably is the refrain "well, the universe is shaped exactly like the earth, if you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were." Which I think is much less a statement on the literal shape of the universe as it is on the cycle of life, both on a personal scale and a universal one. None of this is to mention how much this song just rocks. Sometimes the guitar picks slowly and sometimes he guitar punches--and it does so just at the right moments. It picks it up, and it slows down--it ebbs and flows just like we do, just like the earth does, just like universe does.

1."One Chance" (Good News for People Who Love Bad News, 2004)

Like a diamond against a black backdrop, "One Chance" stands as a starkly optimistic beacon of philosophical wisdom when held in context against Modest Mouse's typically dark atmosphere. Growing up listening to this song, I never suspected it would eventually become my favorite--it's a sneaky hit that doesn't try to stand out or steal the album. This song is everything everyone thought "Float On" was, but done in a much more meaningful way. It's the not-made-for-popular-consumption version of "Float On," as far as I'm concerned.

As much as Modest Mouse is talented at writing atheist, god hating, fist shaking, universe criticizing jams decorated with sloppy vocals and dissonant, wave bending guitars, I think they're equally talented at flipping the script completely: writing about softly beautiful moments, simple observations, nice little thoughts and moments in time. And frankly, I don't think either extreme aspect of their songwriting would be as good without the existence of the other-- the dichotomy makes each side special. Like a compliment meaning more when it comes from you asshole friend, knowing a band who loves to shake their fist at the universe can still find a moment of peace is comforting. Knowing a band who writes about how important it is to try and get this one life right, but can still see the pointlessness of it all gives them credibility and saves them from being corny idealists or unsalvageable complainers alike. It's always been the depth and cleverness at their own introspection that made Modest Mouse who they are and the epitome of this, in a surprisingly optimistic way, is found in "One Chance" as they write about the importance of friends and habits and family. I can't speak for every Modest Mouse fan ever, but the message of the importance of life in "One Chance" is one of the strongest lessons I'll take from any of their songs. Or, at least...that's my two cents.

Anyways, that's it! Thanks for reading.