Modest Mouse is one of the top indie rock bands of the last decade. Since their lengthy-titled debut, “This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About,” to their acclaimed 2007 album, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank,” Modest Mouse has built up a reputation of releasing quality indie jams like “Float On” and “Dashboard” that routinely dominate alternative radio stations.
Unfortunately for Modest Mouse, newly released “Strangers to Ourselves,” features the band venturing into uncharted territory that they probably shouldn’t have explored in the first place. There are some surprises in “Strangers to Ourselves” that work, but just as many that don’t.
“Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996),” the fourth track on “Strangers to Ourselves,” sounds like a horrible rendition of a Lonely Island song that they tried to turn indie. Whether the band meant for the song to be a parody of a cheesy gangsta rap tune or not, that’s what it sounded like, except not funny or enjoyable to any degree.
As for a surprise that actually does work, “Sugar Boats” provides a bouncy Humpty Dumpty beat commenced by a rather creepy piano segment, but leads perfectly into the song’s first verse. It’s a little weird, but it’s so Modest Mouse.
Although Modest Mouse tried out some new styles on this record, “Strangers to Ourselves” does include a few songs that sound like the classic Modest Mouse from the mid-2000s, “Lampshades on Fire” being one of them. The album’s lead single, “Lampshades On Fire,” feels like something from 2004’s “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” and “The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box.” It is also reminiscent of one of the band’s biggest hits, “Dashboard.”
“Strangers to Ourselves” shouldn’t hurt Modest Mouse’s reputation, mainly because the good songs on the record really are fantastic, but the bad songs are just so unimpressive that it makes this album potentially the worst Modest Mouse record released in the band’s history. Nonetheless, Modest Mouse will still be considered one of the powerhouses in today’s indie rock scene, whether they’re on the decline or not.
My rating: 6/10