New Modest Mouse CD
neglects former sound
Modest Mouse’s latest
release, ‘Good News,'
is well done but lacks the
intensity of past albums
Helen Schumacher
Pulse reporter
I owe a lot to Modest Mouse. It was
after a friend forced me to listen to
"Lonesome Crowded West" in high
school that I stopped listening to
what was on the radio and actively
started to search for more fulfilling
sources of music. I bought the album
the next day and listened to it obses
sively for the next six months.
I've had several friendships begin
with a conversation about the band's
music, which had an ironic way of
helping people who felt unable to
connect to modern society connect
with each other.
In short, no other band played as in
tegral a role in my late teens as Modest
Mouse did. That's why I approached
the April 6 release of "Good News For
People Who
Love Bad
News" with
great trepida
tion. After
waiting four
years to follow-up their last full-length
release of new material and losing
founding member and dmmmer Jere
miah Green, I doubted the new album
would be able to live up to the high
REVIEW
standard my sentimentality had placed
on the band's work.
Thankfully, the long-delayed "Good
News For People Who Love Bad News"
is an excellent album, but at the same
time it abandons much of the band's
signature sound and fails to reach the
same intensity of previous albums.
f~ ■■
Courtesy
Modest Mouse's "Good News for People
Who Love Bad News" came out April 6.
The Issaquah, Wash., band’s first full
length release in four years is excellent,
featuring radio-friendly tunes such as
“Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty."
Instead of sounding like a Modest
Mouse album, the new release sounds
like a zydeco-inspired collection of
songs written for singer/guitarist Isaac
Brock's solo project Ugly Casanova.
Brock's concern seems to have shifted
from exorcising his demons to refin
ing his craft.
The album is in the same vein as
their last major release, 2000's "The
Moon & Antarctica." Like that album,
this one has shorter songs and more
layers than their earliest work. The first
single from the record, "Float On,"
bounces along like the catchy "Tiny
Cities Made of Ashes" but without the
cynicism. Instead of conjuring up
apocalyptic visions of gray dust, Brock
sings "We'll all float on OK, don't wor
ry... good news is on the way."
Other stand-out tracks include "The
World At Large," "Ocean Breathes
Salty" and "The View." All are delivered
almost flawlessly and will certainly re
ceive significant air time on college ra
dio stations. The end of "Ocean
Breathes Salty" showcases the work of
new drummer Benjamin Wiekel (of
Beaverton's The Helio Sequence), and
proves he can fill Green's shoes.
Missing from the new album is the
winding and pounding interplay be
tween Brock's guitar and Eric Judy's
bass that carried earlier songs like
"Doin' The Cockroach" and exploded
in "Tundra/Desert."
It could be argued the new sound is
due to Brock's progress as a songwriter.
But for a band whose music has consis
tently lamented the open space
progress destroys, is this a good thing?
"Good News For People Who Love
Bad News" was released Tuesday and is
available at record stores everywhere.
Contact the Pulse columnist at
helenschumacher@dailyemerald.com.
PULSE BRIEF
Maude Kems Art Center
now accepting applications
The Maude Kems Art Center is cur
rently accepting applications for its
first Gallery Guide Program, a volun
teer opportunity for art lovers interest
ed in learning the ins and outs of
working at an art museum.
The art center will choose between
15 and 20 volunteers to begin train
ing May 26. Participants will meet
with artists, leam museum pedagogy
(the processes museums use to teach
and discuss art during tours), attend
lectures on museum education issues
and practice giving guides and an
swering questions about art.
In late June, volunteers will begin
monitoring galleries and giving tours
at the Maude Kerns Art Center while
continuing training. They also will
be responsible for advertising and
doing community outreach for
shows at the art center.
Anyone can apply and there are
no requirements aside from a pas
sion for art.
"It will be a great experience for any
one interested in the arts, particularly in
our museum because we give an op
portunity to meet with artists,"
museum operations manager Jessica
Foote said.
Program participants also will
have the chance to collaborate with
guides at the University of Oregon
Museum of Art, which reopens in the
fall. Foote said Maude Kerns guides
will attend tours at the University
museum, and vice versa.
Those interested should download
the application off the art center's
Web site, http://www.mkartcenter.org,
or contact Foote at 345-1571. Appli
cations are due May 18, and those ac
cepted must commit to at least six
months of work.
— Natasha Chilingerian
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